“We want to be the centre of attention all of the time”, declares Sonya, sashaying her way through a crowd of adoring men at a wedding, grabbing wads of bills out of their open hands. Yet after the wedding, with her make-up taken off, Sonya’s smile vanishes. The men in the market now heckle her, and mistake her for one of the eunuchs who work as prostitutes. “In fact, there has only been one real love in my life”, she says, “but this cruel world won’t let us be together.”

“We know you’re a flirt mullah. You’re giving Pakistan a bad name”, a man in the market shouts as Aini confidently strides past. As a castrated eunuch, Aini should have respect in Indian society, for rejecting worldly desires. But times have changed and Aini has rejected the eunuch’s traditional occupation as a dancer to set up a small business selling cigarettes. “Most come to my stall and they compliment my beauty”, she says, “they just want me to dance. But I am not a dancer, I’m a businesswoman.”

It’s a choice Aini’s mentor ‘Boota’ finds surprising. Yet at 110 years old, Boota’s able to see that a lot has changed in the eunuch’s world. “Nowadays they just shake their bodies and get a bit of bread…they have fake tits!”, she laughs. Eunuchs like Boota would be invited to perform at the birth of every child and every wedding, believed to have mystical powers: “whenever I pray for someone to have a baby, they have a baby”, says Boota. Whilst Aini jokingly asks: “could you bless me with a baby?”

Defined by wanting and tormented by simple desires, many of the eunuchs are drawn to castration. Sonya’s lover is now afraid to be seen with her, even though she’s been looking after his children for a month: “every night I’m someone’s bride. By the next morning I’m divorced”. The demystifying of the eunuchs as ‘transgender’ citizens has stripped away their armor of respect and tradition. Yet within the eunuch community, each can find strength, solace and laughter; a welcoming and glamorous sisterhood, which is enough of a ‘family’ for most.

A beautifully filmed and heartwarming portrait of a community struggling to find a place in a modern world.