At a time when women are breaking sterotypes and making their mark across the globe, actress Taapsee Pannu feels it is "tragic" that the issue of male-female equality is still being deliberated upon.
"It (discussing male-female equality) is extremely sad, it is tragic. It is one of the tragedies of today's world that we are still discussing it," Taapsee said in an interview.
The actress plays a molestation survivor in her upcoming film "Pink", directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.
29-year-old Taapsee, who also hails from Delhi just like her character in the film, feels molestation cases have not gotten worse over the years but are now more reported and talked about than before.
"It probably has not gotten worse, but has got more limelight now. People have started noticing it more now and it has started being covered more. They (survivors) have started coming out in the open now. Also, some have started misusing it (law) now. There are all angles to it," she said.
"Pink" also stars Kirti Kulhari and debutant Andrea Tariang. The actreeses will be seen in the role of women, who face assault charges after being molested by a group of men.
The courtroom drama-thriller also stars megastar Amitabh Bachchan as their lawyer.
"Pink" has been backed by Rashmi Sharma and filmmaker Shoojit Sircar. It also features Piyush Mishra, Angad Bedi and Dhritiman Chatterjee.
Taapsee said initially she had doubts over the title
"Pink", as she thought it furthermore stereotypes the colour with women, but by the end of shooting the film her doubts were cleared.
"When I first heard the title, I asked why? Because it is the story of three girls so we are keeping it 'Pink'? Aren't we pushing it... But then Shoojit sir explained his logic behind it and at the end of it, each one had their own logic behind it," she said.
"We have perceived 'Pink' in a certain way. It is supposed to be soft, delicate, feminine. On the other hand, we also have women who are always seen in a certain way. We also have certain prejudices attached to us," the actress said.
Taapsee said for a woman there are many do's and dont's, which the film wants to break away from.
"If you are a female, you are not supposed to do this, or that. We want to break these norms through the film. Hence, the equation between a woman and pink is symmetrical. We want to break norms attached to the colour and women," she said.
Talking about her personal opinion on feminism, the actress said she is a "self-proclaimed feminist" but does not feel the need to show that to the world, and would rather fight for her rights than demand it through reservations.
"I am a self-proclaimed feminist myself in a lot of ways, but I am not going to take a Pink flag and run on India Gate for that. From my point of view I will stand for equality, and that does not mean give me reservation.
"I would like to fight for it, just give me a fair chance. This is what I would say being a feminist," she said.
"Pink" is scheduled to release on September 16.
