Actor Vidya Balan is all set to roar her way into the hearts of the audience with her next 'Sherni' that releases on Amazon Prime Video on June 18.
In an exclusive interview with DNA, while Vidya talked about the film's premise of man vs animal conflict and her role Vidya Vincent taking on the patriarchal mindset, she also revealed that not just her character in the film, but in real life too, she has been gaslighted.
While admitting that until a few years ago she did not even know the meaning of the word, but now that she knows, she's aware and the moment she feels someone is gaslighting her she avoids the person, adding "you can't get manipulative people to change"
On being asked if she has been gaslighted in real life, something her character is seen experiencing in the trailer, Vidya told DNA, "Of course, I've been gaslighted by people. I think when I trust someone, or I guess when anyone trusts anyone, it becomes difficult to see when they're being gaslit. It has happened to me. I didn't even know what gaslighting was until a few years ago. And now that I know it, I'm well aware. When I feel that someone's gaslighting me, then I just avoid that person because you can't get manipulative people to change."
Asked if like her character Vidya Vincent in the trailer, she too has been told to look a certain way, dress a certain way, Vidya replied, "Of course. I think everyone knows that about me in my career, everyone's had an opinion on what I should wear, what I should weigh, and all of that, and it's damn annoying. And it used to bother me before, but it stopped bothering me. And when it stopped bothering me, people stopped talking."
"But I have to say my mother's not given up on saying wear some jewellery," she jokingly added.
About her role in the film, Vidya said, "She's challenging the patriarchal mindset without making it very obvious. She is a person of few words, shy, quiet and withdrawn and she doesn't like to engage too much with people. So she's not the kind of brazen person who will say 'how dare' you can expect a person in power and especially an empowered person to speak with a certain tone. But she's not like that. She's very soft spoken and yet she does exactly what she wants to do. And This is why I feel a Sherni is not just one who roars, you don't need to roar to be a Sherni. You can be quiet and reserved and you can be whoever you are and yet, you can be a Sherni, which is why I think each one of us is a Sherni."