Since Women’s Day is tomorrow, this evening’s The Front Row episode features some important women from the industry in conversation with Anupama Chopra. The two actresses on the panel are Freida Pinto and Kangana Ranaut, both known for breaking the mould in their own ways. During the conversation, Anupama asked them whether they ever feel a certain responsibility towards the roles that they pick – and the things that they do – since they’re so visible in the industry. Here’s an excerpt from the show!
Anupama Chopra: Actresses are the most visible women in any film industry. Kangana, do you and Freida feel a certain responsibility towards the roles you choose, the things you do? Freida, you recently did a very sexually provocative Bruno Mars video. When you do that, are you fully in charge of what’s going out there and do you think about these things?
Freida Pinto: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely! My initial response when I was asked to do the music video was no. It was not no because I felt uncomfortable playing a stripper but it was more because my initial reaction was, “Oh my God, what would the many women that I support through my NGO think about, think about it?” And then I realized there’s a fine line between going all social reformer and an artist. And I realized that a stripper can also have her self-worth, she can also be empowered, if that’s the profession she chooses for whatever reason. I am no one to judge her. And likewise, that’s how I decided to go into it.
Kangana Ranaut: Yes, I do but at the same time I do understand that I’m in an industry where we aren’t really trying to do humanitarian work. It’s an entertainment industry and I do not take responsibility for what people are perceiving from the kind of scenes I do and what I do. It’s also about personally what stage you are at. When I was 19, I had a different sort of understanding of my work and now I feel differently.
Watch “The Front Row with Anupama Chopra” today (Friday) at 8:30 pm on Star World for the fourth edition of The Front RowDialogues-Women’s Day Special celebrating women power in Bollywood and featuring actresses Kangana Ranaut & Freida Pinto, National Award-winning cinematographer Anjuli Shukla, editor Namrata Rao and producer Guneet Monga. For more details on the show log on to our website: www.thefrontrow.tv, follow us on Twitter: @tfr2014 and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheFrontRowWithAnupamaChopra