MUMBAI: Beautiful and extremely talented diva Aetashaa Sansgiri is currently ruling the TV screen with her performance as Ahilyabai in Sony TV's most loved historical drama series Punyashlok Ahilyabai. The actress made her television debut with this show as a lead and has proved that no one could’ve pulled this character off better than her.

The historical drama series Punyashlok Ahilya Bai has managed to win everyone's hearts ever since the beginning.

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On the occasion of International Girl Child Day, TellyChakkar got in touch with Aetashaa, who gave beautiful insights about Ahilya Bai, the way times are currently, the differences, and much more.

What is your take on the topic of ‘girl child day’? Also, times have changed, and now we have different genders (not just male and female) with various issues that go beyond inequality. What is your take on all of it?

Speaking on account of International Girl Child’s Day, I think it has been a very slow journey from where we had started. Back in the day, the conditions of women were terrible. Now they are slightly better. It will take some time. It’s not the kind of change that’s going to happen overnight. There has been so much awareness now in terms of girls’ education, or the fact that women should be allowed in all types of professions etc. When I was in Goa, I saw so many petrol pumps trying to hire women, which wasn’t happening 10 years ago. The awareness is yet to spread around and come to Mumbai and other cities in India. So there is a change, and we are reaching the day of achievement where all genders are equal, but it’s a slow journey. A month ago, we got to know that a girl child was dumped in a dustbin in Borivali, so it is a slow process. It’s about people’s mindset that has been carried on for many centuries and needs to be accepted by everyone. The schools and the kind of atmosphere that’s around everywhere have already started to make the younger generations aware, and soon they will grow up, and the next generation will come in, and there will be a day when nobody will try to smother the growth of women. There is progress, and everyone is trying. All the professions and communities are trying to incorporate more and more women and encourage them. So we will reach there, but it’s going to be slow.

Speaking of all genders, there’s a good amount of awareness that’s happening. I think it should be even more. A person should be allowed to call themselves how they want to. Nobody should be stopped from having basic rights like food, shelter and work. If someone was bisexual, transsexual or homosexual, people did not accept them even in the family. Now at least, I know of some people who are getting accepted by their families, no matter their orientation. Even in this case, the change will be slow, but it needs to be gradually progressing. I think we are going in that direction.

How would you reach out to the older generation for awareness, as only a small proportion of people in the older generation understand social issues?

If I’m at a family function and there are these two cool grandfathers that I have who are all ready for any kind of trend or change that happens in society, but the rest of them are not. So a lot of involvement and interaction with them will change their mindset.

Since the time of Ahilya Bai, till now, a lot of women have been suffering, but what are some positive changes that have happened?

There are so many good changes. At the time when Ahilya Bai was educating women and standing up for them, it was either just her or just a few more women who were doing that compared to now when we have so many women or girls handling the accounts and dealing with the administrative issues. So there is a change.

Surely Ahilya Bai was a great woman, someone who in the truest sense, was an ideal woman to look up to as a role model. Talking about Aetashaa, she is showing the same strength in the character she plays, and it’s attracting a larger audience.

Also read - WOW! Ahilyabai fame Aetashaa Sansgiri's AUDITION video will leave you mesmerised with her talent

What do you think about this topic? Which answer did you like the most? Let us know in the comments below.

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