Zee Yuva’s ongoing celebrity dance reality show ‘Yuva Dancing Queen’ is receiving unwavering support and love from the audience. In this show which is now synonymous with ‘Experimentation’ in dance forms, viewers are loving to see the divas set the stage on fire with their amazing performances. Apart from the contestants and Judge Sonalee Kulkarni, there is one more diva in the show who is grabbing attention with her screen presence. That person is none other than Ganga. Ganga is an integral part of the show and shares the stage with Adwait Dadarkar as a co-host of the show.
In the latest Episode of Yuva Dancing Queen, Ganga astonished everyone and left them teary eyed when she openly spoke about her sexual identity on national television. Ganga has come a long way, fighting against all odds. Ganga was originally born as a boy, her real name is Pranit Hate. She has had an extremely tough journey of finding her identity as a person in the society and in the entertainment industry. No matter how much ever progressive society seems to be, transgenders still don’t get treated as normal human beings and Ganga has had to face this harsh reality right from her school years, right up to her professional life.
Ganga is an inspiration to each one of us who dream big. As TV aspires to become progressive, it is a very bold move by Zee Yuva to welcome a transgender as a co-host on the show and accept her the way she is. What is even more amazing is that the channel did not introduce her as a transgender. They introduced her as any other host with her talent and her past credentials as her identity. Only later in the show, when Ganga herself expressed interest in revealing her gender identity, did the channel revealed it on air.
At this incredible moment Ganga shared, “Today, after all the bad days I have seen, I stand tall and proud of who I am. Today, this Ganga has given Pranit his real identity. I’m very grateful to Zee Yuva and Yuva Dancing Queen for giving me this to show the world that I can also dream about something and can achieve it. Because of Zee Yuva I’m living my dream.”
Gender is a socially constructed term and we have been assigned roles pertaining to our gender. This is something that needs to change. Gender is a complicated topic and it has to be dealt with in a sensitive manner. Television has the power to influence its audience and shape their thinking. This move by Zee Yuva lives true to the channel’s identity as a younger GEC which is more inclusive, more open minded and truly progressive. This show has not only helped built on the perception of the channel, but it has also raked in numbers. It stands tall at an average 1.18 TVR; making it the highest rated show on the channel.