'FRIENDS TELL ME I AM LIKE A 5 YEAR OLD'

I'm a very positive and optimistic human being.'

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'You put a pile of garbage in front of me and I will find a flower in it.'

She is a conventional Indian beauty, but in her own way. Aditi Rao Hydari has been redefining the stereotypical with her choice of films and characters.

In a heart-to-heart conversation with Aditi says, “Strength doesn't have to be fierce. I believe being vulnerable is my biggest strength as opening your heart to people takes a lot of courage. I laugh, I cry. I am so transparent. I see that as my strength."

While you were already a singer and dancer, given that the common perception or rather, misconception about the film industry, how did your family react to your decision to enter it?

Cinema is also an art form. It depends on what intention you come in with.

Also, I believe that good or bad people could belong to any profession.

I have always been inspired by good story-telling, creating something timeless on celluloid. My family knew I wanted to be a Mani Ratnam heroine and I've always had the freedom to live out my dreams.

As a girl child, I was never given a booklet specifying this is what I could or could not do. I was never treated any differently because of my gender.

But the film industry has traditionally been a male-dominated space.

Yes, but we tell stories about life, and since you cannot have life without women, you can't have stories without women.

When people say 'heroine-oriented', my antenna goes up because you don't say 'hero-oriented, right? When you are talking about people, sometimes the protagonist is a man, sometimes it's a woman.

That balance needs to come into the world of cinema and I think it has.

Today, there are so many different voices, people from different backgrounds, different actors... It's one step at a time, but change has come in.