Sushmita Sen plays the role of a Gauri and it follows her journey as a young boy who knows he is transgender and fights for the rights of transgender. Sushmita Sen gives a powerful performance as Gauri. She is also convincing in the role of a man, as Gauri is transgender and identifies as a man.
The supporting cast is also good. Ayushmaan Khurrana gives a memorable performance as Ganesh, Gauri's friend and confidante. The other actors in the supporting cast also do a good job.
The direction by Ravi Jadhav is sensitive and nuanced. In the first episode of Taali, Sushmita Sen's character says, "I won't clap; I'll make you clap for me." This line sets the tone for the series, which is a departure from the way transgender people are often shown in Bollywood films and series.
Taali is a very important web series in today's time. Until 2014, transgender people were not legally recognized in India. This changed in 2014 when Shreegauri Sawant petitioned the Supreme Court for legal recognition for transgender people.
The Supreme Court ruled in her favour, and transgender people were officially recognized as a "third gender". This shocks his teacher and classmates, but Ganesh doesn't care.
At home, Ganesh loves to express his gender identity by dressing up in women's clothes and putting on makeup. His father doesn't understand this, and he takes Ganesh to see doctors who give him pills to make him stop acting like a girl.
But Ganesh's true self can't be hidden and he eventually runs away from home. On the streets, Ganesh learns how to survive as a hijra, a transgender person who begs for money.