Women have been playing waiting game for long: Sonakshi Sinha

Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha feels that women are always waiting for permissions, validation, acceptance and approval.

"I want to live in a world where we, as women, are able to choose. We have been playing the waiting game for the longest time," she said on Friday, speaking at a short film festival based on women's safety and empowerment.

She further added, "We live in a country where we worship Goddess Laxmi, Saraswati, Kali and Durga, but we eliminate girl child before she sees the world. I don't want to live in a world like that and honestly, an initiative to end gender-based violence is a commendable effort,".

Sonakshi Sinha, who has portrayed strong female characters in films like Akira, Force 2 and Noor, says that being an actor gives her the means to make a difference.

"I am really happy that so many people have taken the effort to make these short films and are showcasing their films over here. Through this medium, we can reach out to so many people across the world and create some awareness," the Dabangg actor said.

Sonakshi admitted that she was accused of doing a lot of roles in films that were regressive. "Fingers are always pointed at me. Nobody pulls up the writer who wrote the script or the director who made the film. It was always me and I used to be defensive about it, but then I realised that maybe, in some way, they are right and maybe I shouldn't be doing what I am doing," she said.

Additionally, she said, "I decided I should be doing films that don't portray me as a damsel in distress, which is why I started doing films like Akira where I played a martial artist who was able to take care of herself."

"I did Force 2 where I was a RAW agent. In Noor, I played a working woman and honestly, all these roles empowered me in some or the other way," she added. 

Sonakshi was last seen on the big screen in this year's Ittefaq and will next be seen in Happy Bhag Jayegi Returns and Golmaal in New York.