Dawn Images

Last year, activist Kami Sid decided to foray into the world of fashion and entertainment.

Sid, who has been working for transgender rights in Pakistan, felt that the community needed to step into the spotlight to create awareness and change societal perceptions. And she knows television is a powerful medium.

Read: I can reach more people this way, says transgender activist Kami of her modelling debut

With fashion shoots under her belt and a short film awaiting its release, Kami will be seen next in Express Entertainment's Dil-E-Nadan.

Talking to Images about the show, Kami shares: "It's an issue-based drama, which will highlight the lack of acceptance of transgenders in our society. Yes, there have been shows about this particular matter before but those roles have always been played by men. For the first time, you'll see a real transgender portraying such a role. The aim is to make sure that transgenders get acceptance, get work just like everyone else and we're implementing that in real life, my casting being an example of just that!"

"In the show, my character is a transgender who doesn't get acceptance from her family. She's upset and sad and winds up in a neighbourhood where she encounters a man named Gul Khan. He listens to her, he empowers her and gets her a job working for a local beautician, in whom I find a support system."

"However, after a few days, my parents put out an ad in the paper looking for me. That really warms my heart as it makes me realise that they do consider me their own and they do accept me no matter what, even if it did take some time for them to come around. This character is not only going to evoke interest but also empathy," she adds.

The show, which will air in November this year, has been written by Sajjad Haider Zaidi and directed by Naveed Jaffery. The cast includes Aabid Ali, Syed Mukhtar Ahmed, Manzoor Qureshi, Asad Zaman and Mariam Mirza among others.