Mind The Gap

- Neeti Jaychander

She has two formidable surnames, courtesy actor-father Rajinikanth and actor-husband Dhanush, but Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth Dhanush carries them lightly, preferring instead to carve her own niche as a film director, classical dancer, writer and now a gender activist. With her recent appointment as the UN Women’s Advocate for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in India, she joins an illustrious list of celebrities that include actor filmmaker-singer Farhan Akhtar, tennis star Sania Mirza, British actor Emma Watson, Academy Award winners Nicole Kidman and Anne Hathaway, and HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand. Her role is to help boost the organisation’s efforts to close the gender gap and achieve a more equal world by 2030. It’s a plan titled Planet 50-50 and she filled us in on all the details in this chat.

Congratulations on your appointment!

Thank you. I’m very happy and elated that they chose me for such a responsible job. Even if I am able to spread awareness among 10 women through my voice, I would consider that an achievement. I had back and forth conversations with UN Women for over a year before everything fell in place. Our ideologies matched and we decided to work together to spread as much awareness as possible in India.

What do your duties entail?