New Delhi [India], March 8 (ANI): Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma on the occasion of International Women's Day on Monday, spoke about how she took a conscious decision to change the portrayal of women on screen as an artist and a producer.

The 32-year-old actor, through her characters in films like 'Sultan', 'Band Baaja Baaraat', 'NH10', 'Sui Dhaaga', among many others, has portrayed that women can be confident, self-reliant, ambitious, and free-spirited to take their own life decisions. Through her production ventures also, Anushka has presented audiences with women who lived their lives on their own terms.

Speaking about the power of cinema, Anushka said, "Our films have the power to impact change and if done correctly, films can also condition people to make them determine between what is right and what is wrong. By being clear about how we will portray women in cinema, we can alter the mindset of people towards how they perceive women and shatter age-old, regressive beliefs, customs, and traditions."She then talked about how she consciously decided to change the portrayal of women and said, "I think I have been conscious enough to select roles and films that I felt could contribute towards changing the portrayal of women on screen. It took a lot of self-belief for me to do this as an actor and then as a producer because I was somehow swimming against the tide and challenging the notion of how women were so far portrayed on screen."This decision liberated Anushka as a performer and a producer, as she decided to focus on changing the mindset of audiences towards how they see women on screen.

The actor said, "It was liberating for me to stand up and do this for myself. I was done seeing myself as an accessory and I vowed that as a producer I will also not allow any woman to be portrayed regressively. So, my film choices and then my productions are a testimony to the fact that I'm committed towards sparking a conversation in society about equality, self-respect, and empowerment."Meanwhile, Anushka, who was last seen in the 2018 movie 'Zero', co-starring actors Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, has recently produced two acclaimed projects - Amazon Prime Video web series 'Pataal Lok' and Netflix movie 'Bulbul'. (ANI)