Mission Mangal actor Vidya Balan: Great that Akshay was okay to share screen with five female actors

About feminism in Mission Mangal, Vidya said, “It was all in the writing and direction. I can’t take any credit for it. I remember Jagan (Shakti, the director) telling me that you’re not making a point and saying ‘I love my job’, he said, you say it just casually, ‘you know what I love my job and I know my daughter so don’t make me feel guilty.’ It is very matter of fact. She (her character Tara Shinde) is a feminist but she’s not an aggressive feminist.”

On being asked if she thinks that this kind of feminism also reflects in the film industry and not the film alone; the forty-year-old actor said, “Let’s hope it does. It’s great that Akshay was ok to share screen space with five successful female actors.”

Also read | Mission Mangal review: Women for Mars

However, she also added that when one talks about the business of a film, it is always in terms of the male actor. She said, “There is no denying that the biggest star on this film and one of the biggest stars in the country is Akshay Kumar. When you talk of the business of a film, you talk in terms of the male actor. Hopefully, in a few years, that’ll change. So, as of today, when you talk the business of a film, you do say ‘An Akshay Kumar film’. You can’t grudge that. Look at the business his films have done over the years. I would be foolish to say ‘oh my name wasn’t taken’, that’s ridiculous. But hopefully, someday things will change. I have seen things change drastically.”

Mission Mangal has earned Rs 46.44 crore in the first two days.