Bhagyashree recently shared her views on feminism, stating it’s about equal rights, not rebellion. She suggested that women drinking or dressing a certain way don’t make them feminists and defended traditional gender roles. Her comments were criticised by netizens, who also accused her husband of influencing her exit from Bollywood.
In an interview with Hauterrfly, Bhagyashree mentioned that both men and women misunderstood feminism. She criticized women who think being feminist means misbehaving, drinking, or dressing in revealing clothes. She said these actions don’t define equality. The interview went viral on Reddit, where people accused her husband, Himalaya, of being a male chauvinist.
One user on Reddit wrote, “Says the woman who had to give up her career beacuse her husband was insecure about what a sensation she had become with her first movie; so much so that she agreed to do movies only if her husband was cast opposite her and none of the movies they did together was a hit.”
Another one shared, “She became an overnight star with Maine Pyar Kiya and directors were lining up at her doorstep to sign her and she herself has said in many interviews during that time, that it was entirely her husband’s decision that she should not be working with any other male costars.”
However, some even spoke in favour of the actress. While one user wrote, ‘Vo uska choice tha bhai, feminism also means you can choose to work or not choose to!’, another one added, ‘She herself had said that she didn’t even do any intimate scene while working and “left Bollywood to marry her longtime boyfriend, Himalaya Dasani. She was a superstar after success of Maine Pyar Kiya but CHOSE to step away from the limelight to start a family” is the real truth’.
In a previous interview with ETimes, Bhagyashree explained that when Maine Pyar Kiya became a hit and she married Himalaya, people didn’t know much about him. They unfairly criticized him for her decision to stop working. However, her children, Abhimanyu and Avantika, supported her return to acting, especially her cameo in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan alongside Salman Khan.
