EXCLUSIVE! The man-woman equality has always been ‘ABOUT TIME, says Shubhaavi

Thanks to her everpositive and extremely down to earth nature the extremely versatile actress Shubhaavi Choksey has always been the darling of millions If the number of DMs and comments on her social media is anything to go by then it wonrsquot be wrong to say that her fan following simply increases by the dayOn the occasion of Womens Equality Dayrsquo Satish Sundaresan of MidDay met up with the lsquoBade Achhe Lagte Hain 2rsquo actress for an exclusive interviewShubhaavi today is being celebrated as lsquoWomens Equality Dayrsquo across the globe Thatrsquos why letrsquos start this interview by asking you as to how do you think people are perceiving women centric roles in recent times In your opinion do you think that the perception about women centricity has changed in recent times If yes then can you kindly elaborate about what are the changes that you have seen and what are the changes that you wish to see in this arenaMany people in India have always loved womencentric films My father was one of them actually and even then there were many who disliked the idea I guess that even today there is a bunch who cannot think beyond conformity and hence might dislike the idea Being a woman and a performer I feel very proud and grateful to the women who have outshined themselves despite the disparity be it peoplersquos notions or ideology It is because of their baby steps that the window of women centric roles have opened up and howView this post on InstagramA post shared by Shubhaavi Choksey Official shubhaaviThe entertainment industry is known for its pay parity pay gap Actresses like Taapsee Pannu and Samantha Ruth Prabhu have confessed about how low they are paid as compared to the male actors Whatrsquos your take on thatI have always heard about this Irsquom interviews and tabloids I personally do not know of anyone who has had a chat with me about the same But again I would like to mention that if this is happening then the women are voicing their opinion very strongly and bringing about a change even in that areaView this post on InstagramA post shared by Shubhaavi Choksey Official shubhaaviDo you think that itrsquos about time that we bring about equality between both men and womenIt has always been ldquoABOUT TIMErdquo But somehow lsquothat timersquo is coming too slowly I was brought up by a father who encouraged me to do things that mainly boys did back then Be it sports or wearing certain clothes or speaking in a particular manner My school principal Ms Darasha always said ldquoMove forward Think out of the box If you fail try again try until you succeedrdquo With so many people around me like this honestly this word lsquoequalityrsquo never popped up I was I am and I hope that I always will be surrounded by people who understand the meaning of this word and respect it for all As far as others are concerned I think it is happening but in pockets and not as a collective consciousness I truly wish people at least start opening up to the truth of this word equality first If that happens I am sure that the acceptance will definitely follow forsureView this post on InstagramA post shared by Shubhaavi Choksey Official shubhaaviOn a personal level what does lsquoWomenrsquos Equalityrsquo mean to youIt means FREEDOM Freedom of speech Freedom of thoughts Freedom of rights Freedom of opportunities If we have a gender equal society it will benefit all of us only In such a scenario we all will have a safer and healthier society to live in The progress will be 100 fold to tell you the realityALSO READ EXCLUSIVE Equality doesnrsquot happen in one day says Kaveri PriyamToday women are working shoulder to shoulder with men Do you think that the concept of womenrsquos equality has been brought to the workplace or is it still pendingIrsquom sure that there are many places where there is a disparity at work I am also sure that there are many women and men who must be trying to bring about a change in their work place If they are trading this then I would genuinely like to say that it is definitely not going to be easy for you but lsquoPLEASE DONrsquoT STOPrsquo Keep pulling through and keep trying One day it will happenand you will surely succeed And that day wonrsquot be long when all of these efforts will bear the required and desirable fruits of labourView this post on InstagramA post shared by Shubhaavi Choksey Official shubhaaviIn your career spanning considerable years in the industry how have you addressed gender equalityI have been extremely fortunate to have started my career on television with a production house that is owned by a woman and has many women in the forefront Balaji Telefilms In fact before that when I was doing my modeling assignments also I had never experienced gender inequalityView this post on InstagramA post shared by Shubhaavi Choksey Official shubhaaviWhat in your opinion is the biggest obstacle that comes in the way of womenrsquos equality in todayrsquos competitive worldOne of the main obstacles that comes in the way of a woman is her ability to multitask and still be perfect in everything she does lsquoJack of all trades and master of nonersquo definitely doesnrsquot apply in this case A womanrsquos ability to take care of her home her children her work and also her people at work too is a magical gift and she owns it A woman is agile in every aspect of her life Of course we do get agitated and sometimes even overwhelmed with all that we have to do but the best part is that we still do it perfectly I guess this quality can be very intimidating for certain people Because you will never know when a woman surpasses you in what you think yoursquore the best at flashes her trademark confident smileView this post on InstagramA post shared by Shubhaavi Choksey Official shubhaaviPlease name the woman women in your life who has have inspired you to make the person that you are todayTOUCH WOOD I am truly blessed in that department People like my grandmother my mother my school principal Ms Darasha and my school teacher Mrs Rani Bhatia These are the women who have inspired me and will continue to inspire me to be who I am today But honestly itrsquos my father who actually tops this list hellip despite being a man I am extremely proud to say that I have such an illustrious father Its only because of his rocksolid support that has shaped me into the woman that I am today Like I have always said my father really means the world to mePLAY QUIZ How well do you know Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone