To mark the occasion of India's 76th Independence Day, we reached out to a few cinema personalities to get their insights into this seemingly simple but deeply profound question...

"What does freedom mean to you?"

Vishwak Sen, actor/filmmaker 

I see freedom as the essence of belonging. Being  accepted the way I am is also another way of defining freedom. Beyond the individual, freedom is also love. Freedom is also tolerance.

Anasuya Bharadwaj, actor

At this point, currently where I am in life, I think freedom today is more about something  within, as oppsed to what we get from the outside or from others. When one feel free of the feeling to live on the terms set by someone else,  that is freedom for me. I am still not there yet, but I feel I am going to be sometime soon. I am manifesting my own freedom. 

Venu Yeldandi, actor/filmmaker

More than freedom, I would like to talk about the caveats that come along with it. When people define freedom, they do not think much about the boundaries or rather the responsibilities that come along with it. Freedom also means enjoying the rights you have with due regard to the responsibilities that come along with them, be it in the way we raise our children or with the way we exercise our freedom of speech.