With films like Gehraiyaan smashing patriarchy with relevantly bold content, actress Somy Ali says that a lot has changed in the industry. She says that this was not true during her active days as a Bollywood actress.
“I was highly criticized for my bold songs like the one in the pink sari in Anth with Suniel Shetty and in Aao Pyar Karen with Saif Ali Khan. Given I had come from the US, these criticisms did not impact me. If I had worried about what the media or others said behind my back during my time in the industry, I would have survived at all,” she says.
However, there were news reports about Deepika Padukone taking permission from her husband actor Ranveer Singh before shooting intimate scenes in the film. Talking about the same, Somy Ali says, “We are a sexist society and in spite of us being in 2022, male domination prevails. Patriarchal culture and that mindset of women requiring permission to even breathe first from their parents then from their spouses remain to be the status quo in our society’s mindset. However, I will say that there is an immense progression in terms of married actresses still pursuing a career. This was not the case 20 years ago. Once an actress got married, she was expected to be a housewife, a mother and that would be her sole identity. Thus, to see actresses such as Madhuri and Deepika as well as others who are married pursuing an acting career gives us a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Bollywood actress turned humanitarian runs her NGO, No More Tears (NMT), in Miami, US. NMT is ‘nonprofit with a mission to assist and empower survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence’.
“Our NGO has rescued and saved over 35,000 women, children, men, members of the LGBTQ community and abused animals. I would say I am beyond satiated and this is not just locally in South Florida, but internationally and quite a few from India too. I would like NMT to grow and have several chapters with volunteers helping people in need. Hence, I am planning a trip to Mumbai sometime this year,” she shares.
