On the second episode of iTV Network’s iconic ‘We Women Want,’ Deepti Naval, an Indian actor, writer, director, and author, speaks with Priya Sahgal, moderator of the show.
Deepti has just come out with a book on growing up in small-town Amritsar, called ‘A Country Called Childhood’. Apart from the little travails and joys of growing up, which included living in a joint family with a Sanghi grandfather and a Congressi grandmother who contested elections against each other yet shared an amicable dinner every evening, Deepti also talks about her experience as a school kid, the dangers of being groped on public buses, being stalked, and how the school girls formed a plan to ward off these challenges, which every growing up girl in India faces.
The climax of the show was when Deepti reacted to just being labelled as a cute girl next door, an image that followed her cutesy detergent salesgirl role in Chashme Buddoor, by pointing out that she had done other roles showing women in empowered roles, but our society is quick to label. She also opens up about battling depression and talks about bringing mental health issues out of the closet.
As Priya Sahgal, Senior Executive Editor, iTV Network, said, that is the beauty of We Women Want. It’s not just a celebrity interview, but through them we explore everyday problems that any average woman would face, be it a stalker on a public bus or the stigma of easy labels. “
Watch ‘We Women Want’ every Saturday at 7:30 PM on NewsX and 3:30 PM on India News. The programme is also streamed live on major OTT platforms: Dailyhunt, Zee5, MX Player, ShemarooMe, Watcho, Mzaalo, Jio TV, Tata Play, and PayTM livestreams.