Swara Bhasker is an actor and one of India’s most outspoken celebrities, regularly speaking out about public protests and causes.

In this conversation with Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, she talks about “being bold” for criticising the government, and how she speaks out because she was born in “old India”, as she says, not “new India”.

On the challenges she faces for not being silent, Swara says, “If you love your country, then why can’t you fight for it?” She also doesn’t think she’s an “activist”, saying: “This tag has been put on me because I talk very frankly and truthfully.” She adds that she would speak out even if she wasn’t an actor, because “causes are important by themselves, not because a celebrity talks about it”.

Swara explains why she thinks everyone is equally important in the film industry. That “actors make films” is misleading, she says, since a film is incomplete without even its spot boy. She also describes two new scripts she’s working on, and her plans to start her own production house.

Watch.

Written by Stuti Bafna.