Anushka Sharma, with her characters in movies like Sultan, Band Baaja Baaraat, NH10, Phillauri, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Sui Dhaga has proved that women can be confident, self-reliant, ambitious and free-spirited.
With her productions, Anushka has given a new brand to audiences who live their lives on their own terms. On Women’s Day, Anushka speaks of how she made a conscious decision to change her portrayal of women as an artist and as a producer.
The actress says:
Our films have the power to impact change and if done correctly, films can also condition people to make them determine between what is right and what is wrong. By being clear about how we will portray women in cinema, we can alter the mindset of people towards how they perceive women and shatter age-old, regressive beliefs, customs and traditions.
Speaking about how she challenged the norms in the industry, she adds:
I think I have been conscious enough to select roles and films that I felt could contribute towards changing the portrayal of women on screen. It took a lot of self-belief for me to do this as an actor and then as a producer because I was somehow swimming against the tide and challenging the notion of how women were so far portrayed on screen.
She says that this decision freed her and she attempted to change the mindset of the audience by how they look and see a woman on screen. She says that more than anything it helped her to stand up and do it for herself.
Lastly, she says that at the end of the day, she wants her films and projects to foster some much-needed and influential interactions in society.
She shares:
I was done seeing myself as an accessory and I vowed that as a producer I will also not allow any woman to be portrayed regressively. So, my film choices and then my productions are a testimony to the fact that I’m committed towards sparking a conversation in society about equality, self-respect and empowerment.