Parvathy to Swara Bhaskar: 5 fearless women on how they shape their world

Watch: Five fearless women and their stories of breaking barriers.
Parvathy to Swara Bhaskar: 5 fearless women on how they shape their world
Parvathy to Swara Bhaskar: 5 fearless women on how they shape their world
Written by:

Three actors, a chef and an entrepreneur- apart from being successful in their careers, what also binds these women are their stories of grit, determination and taking charge of their own lives.

As part of its #IShapeMyWorld campaign to mark International Women's Day, apparel brand Levi's has released videos of five women who talk about fighting prejudices, judgment and stereotypes to make their place in the world, on their own terms.

Parvathy Thiruvoth

Award-winning Malayalam actor Parvathy, who is also known for her vocal criticism of misogyny and sexism in Indian cinema, talks about how she is "done shouting" and that it is time to do something about it.

She also addresses the controversy that erupted last year after she said that Mammootty's film Kasaba has several dialogues that were demeaning to women. Parvathy was subjected to a vitriolic cyber-attack and she later filed a police complaint.

"In sharing my views and opinion, if one other girl can live her life a bit freely, a little less fearfully," she says, "I would have wanted that when I was younger."

Radhika Apte

Growing up, Radhika Apte wanted to a Bollywood actor like Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla. While she did fulfil her dream of becoming a successful actor, she has carved a career path of her own, quite different from conventional leading ladies of Indian cinema.

She been judged and criticised, but has never allowed them to get to her. Like the leak of a nude clip from her 2016 movie Parched. When people tried to shame her, Radhika simply stated that she was neither ashamed of herself nor her body.

Radhika urges women to not blindly follow what they are told, ask more questions and decide for themselves. "I should be ashamed of my body? Does that make sense to me? No. So I won’t follow it," she says.

Swara Bhaskar

Be it her open letter to Padmaavat makers for glorifying jauhar or her views on the #MeToo campaign, the Anarkali of Aarah actor has always spoken her mind, and unapologetically so.

And she too, like many outspoken women, has been trolled, slut shamed and abused for speaking up.

Swara says women need to rise above the "fear of what will happen if I do this", they must make a noise. "I have been molested on a bus, on a street and I am like 'who's gonna make a noise? I am getting late'. No, that is the complacency we have to fight first in ourselves."

Shradha Sharma

The founder of YourStory is a successful woman entrepreneur in the male-dominated startup world. Shradha grew up in Bihar and was among the four daughters of her parents. Very young in life she understood the terms 'liability' and ''dowry' often associated with girl children in the country.

She knew she wanted to do something to make her mother, who is no more, proud and worked relentlessly towards achieving it.

"As a woman, recognition will not come easily. If there was a guy instead of me, they would have said 'what an intelligent man'. he has built a business out of storytelling. But she (for a woman) is a psycho bitch or an emotional fold," she says.

Sharda loves her job and she credits her passion and hardwork for her success.

Shipra Khanna

The winner of Masterchef India Season 2 is today a cookbook author, TV host and a celebrity chef. But life before she earned fame and recognition, was drastically different and full of struggle. Married very young, Shipra was in an abusive marriage for a very long time which was followed by a bitter battle for custody of her children.

Shipra talks about facing prejudice as a female chef and how her past experiences keep her grounded.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com