Rajinikanth says would like to play a transgender
Mumbai, Dec 16: Superstar Rajinikanth on Monday said he would like to play the role of a transgender on screen.
The actor, who was in the city to launch the trailer of his next film "Darbar", was asked a genre he would like to explore.
"Actually I've explored all! It has been 45 years, 160 films... So everything has been covered," the actor told reporters.
When asked, if there's still a genre or a role he would want to be cast in, the actor said, "A transgender."
Actor Vijay Sethupathi featured as a transgender in the widely acclaimed hit Tamil thriller, "Super Deluxe" earlier this year.
Actor Akshay Kumar will also be seen as a transgender in "Laxmmi Bomb".
Asked if he has been offered the role of a transgender, the 69-year-old actor said nothing like that has come his way.
Directed by AR Murugadoss, "Darbar" features Rajinikanth as a cop after 25 years.
Asked what took him so long to play a cop again on screen, Rajinikanth said, "I like to do easy-going, happy-go-lucky character. A cop is a serious character, chasing criminal. So I used to avoid. But Murugadoss came with a fantastic subject... This is not an ordinary routine cop character. He has extracted a different work from me."
The film is backed by Lyca Productions, the banner which was also behind Rajinikanth's science-fiction and action flick "2.0".
"Darbar" is scheduled to release on January 10 next year.
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Telangana survey flags 89,000 child labourers, highlights caste disparities in employment
Hyderabad: A caste-based survey conducted by the Telangana government for 2024–25 has identified around 89,000 children engaged in labour across the state, with a large share belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
The findings are part of the Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey, which covered about 3.5 crore people across 242 caste groups. According to the report, nearly one per cent of individuals below 18 years are involved in daily wage work. While the percentage appears small, officials noted that the absolute number reflects a serious concern.
The survey found that 11 per cent of identified child labourers belong to the ST Lambadi community, while 14 per cent are from the SC Madiga community. The highest incidence was reported among the ST Kolam group, where 7.2 per cent of minors are engaged in daily wage labour.
The data also revealed wider socio-economic disparities. Nearly half of the Scheduled Caste population is dependent on daily wage work, while only around 5 per cent are employed in the private sector, compared to about 30 per cent among General Castes.
State Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the findings show that SC and ST communities remain three times more backward than General Castes, while Backward Classes are about 2.7 times more disadvantaged.
The report further noted that, on average, 31.3 per cent of people in the 25–65 age group depend on daily wage work. Among communities, the BC-A Odde group recorded the highest share at 55 per cent. In contrast, only 2.6 per cent of OC Brahmins rely on such work.
Several SC and ST communities, including Kolam, Beda, Madiga, Koya, Gond, Yerukulas and Mala Sale, were found to have among the highest proportions of daily wage earners. On the other hand, most General Caste communities and some Backward Class groups such as Goldsmiths and BC-C Christians showed lower dependence on daily wage employment.
The survey also pointed to inequalities in access to formal employment. Communities such as OC Rajus, OC Brahmins and Kapus were found to have a higher presence in private sector jobs, with up to 27 per cent of their population employed in such roles.
