What can I wear in order to look dumb: Swara Bhaskar – There was a time when Swara Bhaskar was told she was too intelligent to play a certain part. Thankfully, she doesn’t care about such remarks anymore
Swara Bhaskar walked the ramp for Akassh K Aggarwal
Actress Swara Bhaskar rarely shies away from being voca. At the recently held India Runway Week 2017 in the capital, where the Anaarkali of Aarah actor walked the ramp for jewellery designer Akassh K Aggarwal, themed on the changing phase of feminism, Bhaskar spoke about how feminism is misinterpreted.
“I have no qualms about saying that I am a proud feminist,” said Bhaskar. “It is a part of who I am. There are several parts of my personality, for which I am constantly abused on Twitter (laughs).” Talking about what being a feminist means to her, she said: “It is a myth that feminists hate men or that they don’t shave their legs, or want more rights or that they want to castrate men. This is all nonsense. I think feminism is a fight for equal rights and not more rights. Feminism is a movement that fight for everyone’s rights, including for men who bear the pressure of masculinity due to patriarchy,” she said.
Bhaskar, who has received wide praise for her body of work, accepted being extremely careful while choosing work. “I am very careful about the work I chose… Nil Battey Sannata, Anaarkali Of Aarah and even Prem Ratan Dhan Payo were conscious decisions. The role I played in Prem Ratan.. was aware of her rights and that too in a world like that! You can’t control what is being offered to you, but you can definitely control what you say yes to,” she said.
Bhaskar also stated that while she is now being associated with social issues for her personality, she was once rejected for the same reason. “I am certainly associated with issues, and am being seen as a thinking actor but I was once rejected for the same charge. A director told me that I look too intelligent for a role. So I used to wonder what can I wear in order to look dumb! Eventually, I realised that as an actor, my job is to service the writing of the part offered to me and that taking care of my looks is the stylists’ and fashion designers’ job,” she said. “While the thinking actor tag could be an obstacle for me where in terms of getting commercial success, others might share the load of being commercial.”
