Aishwarya Francis
Renju Renjimar
Renju Renjimaar, celebrity make-up artist, is a transgender who is used to having her work in the spotlight.
In the 22 years of her makeup career, she has become a favorite to many celebrities such as Priyamani, Rimmi Tommy, Swetha Menon, Parvathy Omanakuttan, Bhavana, Remya Nambeesan, Meghana Raj, Muktha, Shamna Kasim, Kavya Madhavan, Bhama, Meera Nandan, Mamtha Mohandas and many others.
She has done the makeup for actress Priyamani for all the seasons of popular Malayalam television show 'D for Dance'.
Over a conversation with the Renji, I got to see the humble person behind this inspirational success..
Question: How did you attain success to top the make-up industry in the state?
Answer: Getting into the makeup industry was never the plan for me. It’s one of those situations where you say the profession chose me and not the other way around. I didn’t have any prior experiences with makeup. I didn’t work under anyone before becoming an artist. There has been turmoil and struggles, but I feel happy when I think of them because everything has molded me to the person I am today.
Question: How did members of the transgender community make it to the top of the industry, despite the patriarchal nature of our Malayalee society?
Answer: It is all about your passion at the end of the day to stay on the job. I speak not just for myself but all my friends of the community when I say this; makeup is part of our lives now. I even take my daughter to my appointments at the salon from time to time.
I honestly don’t know what position I stand at in the industry, but I definitely know that I give it my 100% when I do my job. Dedication and commitment to one’s profession will take wherever you wish to be in life.
Question: How has your journey as a makeup artist been so far? Could you share a few good and bad experiences that got you to where you are today?
Answer: The best part about my job would be the fact that I get to work with top celebrities in the industry. One I’m especially proud of is doing the makeup of Arathi Pillai, daughter of business magnate Ravi Pillai on her wedding day.
There have been plenty of bad experiences. It’s disheartening when you come forwards despite the odds against you and see that your efforts go futile. I’ve been discriminated on so many levels that I’ve had to leave the film sets crying. But I never let that stop me. I went on as all this is part of your journey.
Question: How do you deal with the hardships that come your way?
Answer: The journey has been hard, yes. It’s been hard for all of us. But I always tell the disheartened this - the failures we go through will only motivate us to be successful further on. To see other's hardships and to empathize is something I’ve been capable of doing because I’ve been down that same road. I see in others what I saw myself go through a few years back.
Today, I can say thank you to those who looked down upon me then. If it wasn’t for the criticism, I wouldn’t have fought and progressed to reach where i am today.
Question: Do you see a change in mentality of the community? If yes, in what way has it changed over the years?
Answer: Do not bother about all that. The responsibility of the people to change their mentality is only on themselves. The person only is accountable and has the authority to control their thoughts, no one else. I say with much pride that the efforts taken to accept the transgender community as society’s own have indeed changed the outlook of a lot of people.
When it comes to acceptance, I get reactions based on the quality of work I give. Since I’ve had decent encounters, I’ve got reactions based on what I do.
Jaanmoni Das
Jaanmoni Das, aka Jaanu, has established herself as quite a name in Kerala. A celebrity makeup artist from Assam, she is regarded as the ‘Queen of Makeup’ for a reason. She has carved a niche for herself in the industry working for, celebrities like Rajini Haridas, Abhirami, Revathy and Manju Warrier to name a few . Here’s what she had to say about her journey over the past 15 years.
Question: What has been your journey as a makeup artist like? What are the good and bad experiences that got you to where you are today?
Answer: I’ve been accepted with so much love ever since I moved to Kerala and it is all because of my dedication to the field. My family wasn't really supportive of my career choice because of their aversion towards the film industry. By the age of 14, with Rs.180 in hand, I ran away from home. I stayed at my aunt’s place and joined a mobile theatre in Assam. I loved it there because I loved dancing. Since I was good with theatre, I got acting roles too.
Sometime in 2007, a well-wisher advised me to move out of theatre and asked me to try makeup. Under the guidance of a couple of people I truly loved and trusted, I went on to pursue this venture and thanks to my gurus, I’m here today.
During the initial days, I started off assisting make-up artist Ratul Boro, a known name in the Assamese film industry. Once Ratul relocated to Delhi, I inherited his clients and his reputation since I was his last assistant before he left for Delhi. Consequently, contacts kept flowing in before I relocated to Kochi.
Question: What progress do you see in the mentality of the people in Kerala over the years?
Answer: It’s after I came to Kerala and met Manju chechi (‘big sister’ in Malayalam) and Amala Paul that I understood that how people treat you is not because of your gender but because of your character, the person you are.
I don’t blame people for being a little skeptical of being around us because there are times a few of us are a little unstable with our emotions due to the hormonal treatment. I have plenty of personal experiences which touched my heart in Kerala and I’m grateful for the people in my life.
Comments