Mira Rajput supports Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah as they call out sexism at home: ‘A woman’s work deserves respect’

Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah spoke about the double standards toward men and women that are casually practised in every home in an interview, and Mira Rajput was all for it. Vidya and Shefali were discussing how they are often interrupted on the phone while they are working but the same doesn’t happen with their respective husbands, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Vipul Amrutlal Shah. Also Read| Vidya Balan explains why ‘it’s a better time to be a female actor’; Shefali Shah agrees

Mira, who is married to actor Shahid Kapoor, applauded Vidya and Shefali’s remarks and noted that a woman’s work deserves respect. Sharing a video of it on Instagram Stories, Mira added clapping emojis, along with the message, “Equality starts at and extends to the home. Whatever she does, a woman’s work deserves respect. So next time you think about interrupting her calls, be ready to be asked what to make for the dinner in the middle of yours.”

Vidya and Shefali made the comment in an interview with Quint while they were promoting their film Jalsa in March. SheThePeople recently shared the video on their Instagram account, which caught Mira’s attention.

Vidya said in the interview, “Siddharth and I are on calls at the same time. They (domestic workers) don’t mind interrupting me, but they mind interrupting Siddharth. Because I just think that they feel the man is working and the woman isn’t, doesn’t matter what I do. Somewhere I think at home you’re just… They feel ki thik hai na, didi ko to puch sakte hain (they feel it’s okay, can interrupt the woman).”

Shefali also recalled a similar incident that happened to her when she attended the screening of her Netflix series Delhi Crime at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. She said, “You’re talking about, you know, cook or help coming and asking. (In my case) My son is calling me repeatedly. I am sitting there in the audience, I message him saying, ‘you know baby, I’m in the middle of my first screening showcasing of Delhi Crime at the Sundance’. And he is like ‘send me the OTP (repeatedly)…I was like ‘are you serious.'”

Jalsa, which starred Vidya and Shefali as co-leads, released on Amazon Prime Video on March 18. In the movie, Vidya played a celebrated journalist while Shefali Shah portrayed her cook, whose daughter gets injured in a hit-and-run accident.