film that has received both international recognition and domestic controversy. While existing research on South

Asian transgender representation has focused mainly on narrative and dialogue, this work highlights the visual

dimension, analyzing how cinematography, lighting, costume, body language, Camera movements and color

palette shape meaning. Guided by Multi-modality theory the study conducts a visual analysis of key scenes in

performance spaces, domestic settings, and moments of interaction between transgender and cisgender

characters. The findings reveal a striking duality: performance spaces are framed with vibrant lighting,

flamboyant costumes, and dynamic camera work that celebrate visibility, whereas domestic spaces rely on muted

colors, static shots, and restrained gestures that convey repression and marginalization. At the same time, the

film resists the common stereotypes of transgender characters in South Asian cinema as comic relief, villains, or

mystical figures by presenting Biba (transgender) as complex, central, and humanized. These contrasts visually

Cinema has long been a powerful medium for representing marginalized communities, shaping not only

entertainment but also cultural perceptions and public discourse. Visual storytelling through cinematography,

costume, lighting, and spatial design plays a decisive role in determining how identities are constructed and

received on screen. In South Asia, transgender communities, commonly referred to as hijra or khwaja sira,

occupy a paradoxical position. They are hypervisible in ritualistic roles such as blessings at weddings and

childbirths, yet remain marginalized in everyday life, facing systemic discrimination, violence, and exclusion

from mainstream opportunities (Asghar & Shahzad, 2018). This paradox extends into their media portrayal,

where stereotypes of mysticism, comedy, or deviance dominate, reinforcing stigmas and limiting the scope for

authentic representation (Abbas, 2019; Zaman, Saeed, & Liaquat, 2023).

In recent years, Pakistani media has shown gradual shifts in transgender representation, particularly in television

to examine how representation occurs visually, not just narratively or discursively.

Against this backdrop, Joyland (2022), directed by Saim Sadiq, marks a cultural and cinematic turning point.

The film became the first Pakistani feature to compete at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Jury Prize in the

Un Certain Regard section and receiving the Queer Palm. Its international acclaim highlighted both its narrative

daring and its aesthetic sophistication, while domestically it sparked polarized reactions. Provincial bans were

imposed due to its perceived challenges to heteronormative values, though the film was later released with edits

(Public Books, 2023). Critics note that Joyland distinguishes itself not only through its storyline but also through

its striking visual grammar, where transgender identity is represented with nuance, dignity, and complexity

(Javed, 2023; Malik, 2025).

Film is an inherently visual medium, and beyond plot or dialogue, meaning is carried through the interplay of

disrupts this pattern by foregrounding its transgender character, Biba, not as comic relief or a symbolic “other,”

but as a subject framed with visual centrality.

In Joyland, Biba’s representation alternates between spaces of celebration and suppression. On stage, she is

depicted through flamboyant costumes, dynamic camera movements, and saturated colors, suggesting vitality

and agency. Off stage, however, she is frequently shown within dimly lit interiors, muted palettes, and spatial

confinement, signifying repression and marginalization. These contrasts are not incidental; they visually encode

the precarious position of transgender identity in contemporary Pakistan hypervisible in performance contexts

but constrained in everyday life (Malik, 2025). As Javed (2023) notes, Biba’s character complicates established

stereotypes by embodying both vulnerability and strength, thus destabilizing reductive tropes that have

dominated regional media for decades.

RQ1: How are transgender identities visually represented in the film Joyland (2022)?

The objectives are:

To identify the key visual strategies used to represent transgender identity in Joyland.

To analyze how cinematography, lighting, costume and makeup, body language, expressions, and color palette

contribute to the construction of meaning.

By centering the visual, the study aims to bridge film studies, gender studies, and South Asian cultural analysis.

Historically, South Asian media has struggled to present nuanced portrayals of transgender communities. In

Bollywood, films such as Sadak (1991) and Tamanna (1997) included hijra characters but often framed them

through melodrama, villainy, or spectacle, reinforcing stereotypes rather than challenging them (Ghosh, 2018).

Pakistan’s Lollywood industry followed similar patterns, marginalizing transgender characters by relegating

(Zahra & Abbas, 2024).

In contrast, independent films and alternative media have begun experimenting with more complex portrayals.

Works such as Zindagi Tamasha (2020) and the television drama Guru (2023) offer narrative space for

transgender perspectives, but these remain exceptions rather than the norm (Asghar & Shahzad, 2018; Zaman et

al., 2023). Against this backdrop, Joyland becomes particularly significant because it does not position its

transgender protagonist as an accessory to the plot, but rather as a central narrative and visual subject.

Film theory emphasizes the importance of formal visual dimensions, mise-en-scène, cinematography, lighting,

and design in constructing meaning. Bordwell and Thompson (2010) argue that film must be understood not

only through narrative structure but also through its visual grammar: framing, movement, setting, and tone. For

marginalized identities, these visual codes are especially crucial because they determine whether representation

Judith Butler’s (1990) theory of gender performativity is also critical for analyzing transgender representation

in cinema. Gender, Butler contends, is not innate but enacted through repeated performances of gestures,

expressive body language visually perform femininity as lived practice. These enactments destabilize essentialist

binaries and highlight identity as fluid and embodied.

Roland Barthes’ (1977) semiotic framework further deepens analysis by showing how visual signs, colors, props,

lighting, and costumes communicate both denotative and connotative meanings. For example, mirrors in Joyland

not only denote reflection but also connote fragmentation and layered identity. This layered signification is

central to decoding the visual strategies through which the film constructs Biba’s presence on screen.

Pakistani cinema itself has historically been conservative in addressing gender and sexuality. With the decline

must communicate transgender visibility to international audiences while navigating domestic censorship and

Second, academic focus has been disproportionately centered on Bollywood, leaving Pakistani cinema

underexplored despite its emerging importance. Third, there has been limited application of semiotics and

performativity frameworks, tools essential for decoding how transgender identities are visually constructed on

screen. This study addresses these gaps by examining Joyland (2022) exclusively through its visual strategies,

building an academic bridge between film studies, gender studies, and South Asian cultural analysis.

This study adopts a qualitative research design, focusing on visual-textual analysis of Joyland (2022). Visual

analysis is a widely recognized approach in film and cultural studies because it enables scholars to examine how

meaning is constructed not only through narrative but through visual codes such as cinematography, lighting,

costume, body language, and set design (Rose, 2016). Given that the research question is specifically concerned

with how transgender identities are visually represented, a qualitative framework is most appropriate.

continuous segment of the film where visual strategiessuch as framing, lighting, costume, gesture, and spatial

design cohere to construct meaning. This may range from a single shot to a short montage. By concentrating on

visual sequences, the study enables a detailed exploration of how transgender identity is framed without being

constrained by the overall narrative structure. The analysis deliberately excludes dialogue, textual content, lyrics,

or musical elements, focusing solely on visual and compositional aspects of the cinematic image. Guided by two

interrelated theoretical perspectives, multimodal discourse analysis (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) and

multimodal film analysis (Bateman & Schmidt, 2012), this study examines how meaning is generated through

resources such as composition, gaze, color, and spatial organization function as semiotic systems, while Bateman

Table No 01 Scene Description with Data Sample