00:00I need to be a feminist so he can be more in touch with who he is.
00:03I think Salim Javed Bachchan's era of 70s really showed us what we shouldn't be.
00:08I feel we are not talking about making more vulnerable male characters.
00:20I will talk to you about my heart at midnight tonight, Pankur.
00:30You are one of the softest men I have met.
00:48You agree with what I said?
00:49I don't know if I am the right person to really answer this but I think I come from an industry
00:57especially where I come from, television.
01:00The creators, the writers, the network bosses are all women.
01:08The audience is mostly our mothers, young women I would say.
01:15I think in the last 11 years, I have done about three shows now
01:20and I have learned so much just being around all these wonderful women.
01:25And I think it didn't just start with my work.
01:28I think since my childhood, my role models have always been,
01:35although anyone who wanted to be an actor,
01:38you know, Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan, phenomenal role models, right?
01:42But looking at Madhuri Dixit, I used to think that the grace, dignity and beauty
01:48that she had in her acting, how can I have that in me?
01:53You know, and I think as a child, I had to understand what about her was I so drawn to.
01:59There was a song in her saajan, which one was it?
02:02Shahyar hai, and she used to do this beautiful finger movement, right?
02:08I remember starting to do that.
02:10Then I used to do her dances.
02:14I think somewhere in pop culture and films,
02:17you know, I have just spoiled the definition of what it means to be a man.
02:20Yeah.
02:21And while Salim Javed were phenomenal writers,
02:25and I think Salim Javed Bachchan saab, that era of 70s,
02:28really showed us what we shouldn't be.
02:30Madhko dard nahi hota, you know.
02:33Jo mard hota, usse dard nahi hota, ma'am saab.
02:36And I think Bachchan's, all his roles were such like, you know, like aspirational.
02:41And it fed into this image of what it means to be a man.
02:43It's absolutely, very true.
02:46I was a fan of Shashi Kapoor always, right?
02:49And no one is a fan of Shashi Kapoor.
02:52I was a fan of Shashi Kapoor.
02:53I was a fan of Shashi Kapoor.
02:54Except for the women.
02:54For the women.
02:55Yeah.
02:55But that was, again, just for the looks, you know.
02:57I thought Shashi Kapoor,
02:59jab agar aap deewar dekhoge, why this Bachchan,
03:01you can't like take eyes away from him.
03:03But the Bachchan works because the dignity that Shashi Kapoor's character brings.
03:09The truth, the dignity, the vulnerability,
03:12the strength, and the quiet strength, which he brings.
03:16What do you think, either in your characters or in your personal life,
03:21aapne jo bhi analyse kiya hua, aisa kya hai that you bring,
03:25you know, on the screen,
03:26ki all the mothers in our country are looking at you and saying,
03:29yaar aisa ladka hona chahiye.
03:30I think why probably women relate to the characters I've played,
03:34I don't think I can take all of the credit.
03:37A lot of the credit is,
03:38maine jo, I think, patra chunne hain, alag-alag shows mein,
03:41kahi na kahi wo patra mujhe bhi resonate hua,
03:44because they had a lot of feminist qualities.
03:47Toh, like I was telling you, Ram Kapoor is such a feminist hero,
03:51I feel a lot of that is the learnings I've had,
03:54jo main abhi apne kirdaar mein dalta ho.
03:56Like the nicest thing someone's told me about,
03:59I think this was in London or New York,
04:01main ja raha tha, ek mahila aayi, apne bachche ke saath thi,
04:03and she said, I'm really very fond of you.
04:06Thank you for doing what you do.
04:07And she, exchange pleasantry, wo apne raas se chale gayi.
04:10Wo do minute phirse mujhe milne aayi,
04:12and she said, sorry, main ek baat batana bhool gayi aapko.
04:14She said, what I really like about you,
04:17is the dignity with which you look at women on screen.
04:20Wow.
04:21I said, wow.
04:24Yeh main sochta tha, par yeh audience tak baat pohuch rahi hai,
04:28aur logon ko farak pad raha hai, yeh bahut badi baat hai.
04:30And someone noticed it, right?
04:32I feel, there is so much you can bring,
04:35while popular notion hai ki TV toh regressive hai,
04:39mass medium hai,
04:40aap, you know, roj karte hain, toh creativity nahi hai.
04:43But I feel, kyunki ek mass media hai,
04:46aap itna kuch keh sakte ho apni audience ko,
04:49and it may or may not be part of the larger,
04:52like, the theme of the show.
04:53Jab baat hoti hai na, ki feminism ki aaj kal,
04:56strong women characters,
04:57I feel we are not talking about making
05:00more vulnerable male characters.
05:02It's beautiful.
05:03Aapko kyu lagta hai ki,
05:04aapko feminist banna chahiye,
05:05aapke characters ko feminist hona chahiye,
05:07aur kya advantage hai ladkon ko?
05:09I think, after becoming a parent,
05:10I realized ki,
05:11jo generation se mari conditioning aati aayi hai,
05:13and we've been blaming our conditioning ki,
05:16you know, be a man, toughen up,
05:18take care of your life.
05:21I hope not to pass that on to my child.
05:25I need to be a feminist,
05:26so that he can have the space
05:30to do everything I have found it so hard,
05:34you know, to be able to share,
05:36to be able to express,
05:40to be able to cry.
05:41I need to be a feminist,
05:43so he can be more in touch with who he is.
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