Khushbu Sundar(KS) dons many roles – as an actor, film producer, TV presenter and now a politician. Her unique trait is that, in all these roles, she has ensured that her voice is heard.
Be it the different fields she has been in, KS has been at the helm. From her experience, she feels, “men become aversive to women in leadership position. They cannot accept a beautiful woman with brains and I have faced that many times. That too if a woman is from the cine world, they feel that we should not enter politics.”
Experiences that had a huge impact on you
I have learnt from my mistakes and I am still evolving. If you had asked these questions about 10-15 years back, my answer would have been different. As one gets older, they become matured and their perspective changes with that.
Policy and support system for inclusivity
Several conducive policies like maternal and paternal leave, child care facilities have come up. The most important thing to ensure is that women must feel secure at their workplaces and also in the society. Sensitising men about this is extremely important. At different stages in their lives, women go through various emotional cycles. Men need to be made aware of these. Today women are on par or even better at certain things than men. They need space to fly high. In a recent incident in Bengaluru, a young woman was hacked to death at the gate of her workplace and the company refused to take up the responsibility. This kind of atmosphere or attitude will not help. Women need security over comfort and it must be ensured.
How to address gender-based pay disparity ?
Pay disparity is a problem in any sector. I think only in the home front, women house helps are paid more than their male counterparts. In the work world, it is slowly changing. But when it comes to any business, especially cinema, as a producer, I’ll pay an artiste based on the returns they can fetch.
Your advice to young women to take up a career…
I think young women should just follow their dreams. Times have changed, so have people. Today one does not have to compromise on anything. Women just need to come out, show their strength and fly high. They don’t need anybody to tell them that they can fly high. Its within them. They just have to realise that they are capable of doing it.
This pandemic has brought out women’s capability. Their creativity and cooking skills have helped several families tide over. Their knowledge was turned into business and they have achieved financial independence. Those who said women are capable only for household work, are now appreciating their talent.
