Tamannaah Bhatia opens up about gender equality in cinema, challenges 'milky beauty' tag
Tamannaah Bhatia is all set for the release of her much-anticipated film Odela 2, in which the veteran actor plays a 'sadhvi'. During the trailer launch event, the actress spoke candidly about being cast in the film, despite her 'milky beauty' tag.
At the pre-release event in Hyderabad on Sunday, the actress reacted to a question from a woman journalist about her portrayal of the character named Shiva Shakti, despite her 'milky beauty' tag.
Responding to the question, Tamannaah said, "Why did you look at a milky beauty and thought she can't be Shiva Shakti? Your question has the answer in it. He [Ashok Teja, the director of Odela 2] does not look at milky beauty that it is to be ashamed of or feel bad about. Glamour in a woman is to be celebrated, and we women must celebrate ourselves. Then we can expect other people to celebrate us. But if we look at ourselves in a certain way, then nobody can respect us."
She added, "Here we have a wonderful gentleman [Ashok Teja] who does not look at a woman like that. He looks at women like she's divine. Divine can be glamorous, lethal and powerful. A woman can be many, many things."
In an interview with The Hindustan Times, Tamannaah opened up about gender equality in the film industry, acknowledging the progress being made.
"It's getting better. It definitely is getting better a lot. There's some part of the wokeness that's working very well for us. The women need to own up to themselves," she said.
She further expressed her thoughts on the ongoing struggle for women's empowerment, noting, “I think we are fighting too hard. I think there's too much of a struggle to empower us or there's this constant need to outline it that we are women and that we are struggling and that, I mean, it's us. We are the ones who are constantly putting that into perspective."
Odela 2, a supernatural thriller directed by Ashok Teja and written by Sampath Nandi will hit the theatres on April 17. The film features Tamannaah in the lead role. Other actors include Hebah Patel, Vasishta N Simha, Yuva and Naga Mahesh.