Sushmita Sen opens up on seismic shift that has come for actors due to social media

Bollywood actor and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen said she found the industry challenging when she started out, as her “voice was contained”.

In an interview with Pinkvilla on Saturday, Sen opened up about being silenced in the industry, finding the courage to be outspoken and the importance of being true to oneself.

Responding to a question about how she battled being judged, she said, “Back then in the 1990s it was a much different world. There was no social media, no computers. Everything was a lot more contained, relationships were interpersonal, there were no video calls, no Instagram.

“And yet, because the world was so small, it was heavily opinionated.

“You could not go against what was the norm. Today that is different. Everyone is their own voice, is a star in their own right. They have a way to reach people. The world is shifting in that sense.”

Reflecting on her former self, Sen said, “If I had this back then, I think my voice, which was contained, would have been heard loud and clear from a really young age, because I’ve always been pretty vocal, which has not been a good thing.”

“Would I change that? I guess not. I don’t know any other way to be.”

‘I have always lived like an Indian princess’: Bollywood icon Rekha in rare interview with Vogue Arabia

On why she thought she was being silenced, Sen replied, “When I first joined the film industry I realised that it operates as a certain system which I wasn’t a part of and no one from my family was ever a part of.

“For me, it was a whole new world to enter. Even then I was pretty vocal so it was easy to contain it because there was no other avenue, except you had to do an interview with the film magazines and talk about it something that was easily contained.

“Now that’s not the case. If I want to say something I get on social media and I say it. I don’t need another avenue for someone else’s perception to be my truth. I can speak it myself.”

Hareem Farooq opens up on her career’s ‘struggle’, how she still powered through

Sen shared a piece of advice she was given early on in her career which she has remembered and adhered to, which was to respond with respect no matter how rude the question because “history will not record that question, but they will record your answer.”

“Don’t antagonize your voice, have compassion but put your voice there,” she added.

‘Deal with sorrows alone’: Mahira Khan reflects on challenges of being a celebrity

Sen made her Bollywood debut in 1996 with the film ‘Dastak’. She went on to make a name for herself with films like ‘Biwi No. 1’, ‘Main Hoon Na’, ‘Aankhen’, and others.

Sen, the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant, was the first Indian woman to have achieved the feat.

Sen will next be seen in the series, ‘Taali’ where she will be playing a transgender activist. The series will stream on August 15 on JioCinema.

Of her latest role, she said, “As an actor we’re always greedy and of course we want to grow and not play stereotypical characters,” she shared.

“But this is not what this is. ‘Taali’ is my homage to a neglected community.”