KUALA LUMPUR: For his upcoming drama series titled 'Khunsa', filmmaker Shahrulezad Mohameddin did a lot of research and visited the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) many times.
In a Harian Metro report yesterday, the 51-year-old film director who is also a producer, said he had to meet many experts on the subject (khunsa, the Arabic term for people born with both male and female genitals) so that he could wrap up the drama with all the right information and details.
"'Khunsa' has to be the most difficult copy I've ever worked with so far. This topic has also not been dealt thoroughly in any Malay drama series as far as I know, so detailed research is important for me to make this production easily understood by TV viewers.
"I'm sure many out there are still vague about what is actually an intersex individual," he said.
Shahrulezad added that through his research, he dug up facts which surprised him.
"For instance, some of these individuals, had been recorded menstruating, and some believed to have conceived even without copulating as they have both functioning male and female genitals," he said, adding that such a rare case was recorded in the 18th century, from outside Malaysia.
The drama which has a cast of almost 70 talents, including Azhan Rani and Sherry Alhadad, will premier on Astro Ria beginning March 11.