Watch: Actresses Roundtable 2016 with Alia, Sonam, Anushka, Radhika and Vidya is refreshingly candid

For the enthusiastic feminist in us, every year seems like the year of female characters and roles. In 2015, you could gloat about Anushka Sharma’s performance in Nh10 or the fact that Deepika, not Amitabh, was the helmer of Piku. This year (may have been disastrous for many reasons) also has its fair share of moments. But if you were looking for one platform where all those reasons were not only showcased, but also interacted and bonded with one another, it would have to be Rajeev Masand’s annual Roundtable with the top actresses of the year. With Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Vidya Balan, Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in one frame, the one hour long episode was a sheer treat to watch. [caption id=“attachment_3165652” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, Vidya Balan and Radhika Apte on the Actresses Roundtable with Rajeev Masand.[/caption] And here’s the primary reason why: there was no continuous reference to gender in the entire interview. No cliched questions about marriage, or an actress’ shelf life. It was refreshing to hear these women talk about their professional choices and interactions as candidly as they did. The ladies spoke about playing de-glam characters, how to detach from emotionally draining roles (case in point Neerja and Udta Punjab), meeting celebrities like Woody Allen and Helen Mirren. Sonam Kapoor, who was her usual verbose self, spoke about her self esteem issues as a kid, about meeting Julianne Moore and Helen Mirren at a fashion show, and about taking a 45 minute non-stop take for Neerja where she had to continue being in character inspite of being assaulted for the role. She even revealed that was molested as a kid, when the topic of child sexual abuse came up with regard to Kahaani 2. Alia Bhatt also spoke about how she hated the walk to and from the set while shooting for Udta Punjab, due to the sheer emotional trauma of playing her character, and Anushka Sharma spoke about how she was in ‘depression’ (read: really low) after having shot for Nh10 last year where she was pulled by hair by her on-screen assaulter. Radhika Apte spoke about being comfortable in her body, and not having any qualms about nudity in her films, as well as being a meticulous performer that doesn’t like to get into the loop of being the same sort of actor in different films. Vidya Balan opened up about playing a “real” character: by which we mean a character whose chipped nails, unwashed hair and sweat patches are not hidden from the character or colour-corrected but celebrated. It was refreshing to see these women open up about their characters and experiences, giving us an insight into how they function as actors. Watch the episode here: