Parineeti Chopra on experiencing sexism in her own life: “Contractors don’t talk properly because I’m a woman”

Actress Parineeti Chopra has come a long way since her debut and she often voices her views one the issues that grab her attention. She has frequently advocated women’s rights, and she has even worked on projects that portray some of the most staunch characters in the films.

The 32-year-old actress was recently seen in Dibakar Banerjee's latest directorial ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’. After its theatrical release, the film found a second life on OTT release last week, and her fans have praised the actress for her performance and the comment it makes on various forms of sexism women have to endure in their lives.

Now, during a recent interview, Parineeti spoke about experiencing sexism in her own life and said that she, too, has not been unaffected by it. Furthermore, she gave an example of how the contractors on the house she is getting made insist on speaking with a man for making decisions.

"This film is uniquely written. People have become so immune to the patriarchy that they don’t even think about it. Women in India face this every day. When I’m getting my house renovated, the contractors don’t talk to me properly because I’m a woman. They ask if there’s someone else at home they can talk to. I say, ‘No, I bought this house, I’ve made the payments. It’s mine so I will choose the tiles.’ When I tell them to talk to me, they refuse. This film has a lot of similarities to my personal life," she told Film Companion.

Parineeti revealed the ‘paratha achaar’ scene - which showed her character Sandy and Arjun Kapoor's Pinky eating breakfast with Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav's characters - was her favourite. 

She pointed out that all men are seated while the women are standing. In fact, even Neena Gupta’s character can be seen standing and Parineeti asserted that everyone is used to the patriarchy and that she’d never ask Arjun’s character to pass the pickle, but she’d ask me why I’m seated.

“While shooting this scene, I was reminded of the small town I grew up in, where the women weren’t allowed to eat till the men went to sleep. They couldn’t eat while the men were still seated at the dining table. Even at my house, my mother wasn’t allowed to sit and eat. It’s not that my father made her do this, but it was an unspoken rule in the house. The most important thing about this film was the marriage between my character, Sandy, and me – this mixture of real and reel life. This was me saying, ‘Let’s smash the patriarchy.’ We were trying to show how accepted the patriarchy is in India and how much we wish that would change," she said.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Parineeti was recently seen in the Saina Nehwal biopic and Netflix's Hindi remake of The Girl On The Train.