Rajeev Khandelwal: “Men made to believe they”re superior gender”

Actor Rajeev Khandelwal says men are brought up in our society with a mindset to make them feel superior and privileged than women.

The 40-year-old “Aamir” actor feels the change will come in the mentality only if men start questioning the belief and consider women equal.

“Men should start asking themselves why do they feel superior or are better than women. I think the enlightenment would lie in the question. We get used to our society, the system.

“As a man I would say, we get conditioned by just looking around, we don’t really apply our mind, we just feel a boy is little more superior and privileged than a girl,” Khandelwal said.

The actor was speaking at the US Consulate’s “Women’s Safety and Empowerment” short film festival.

“I have maintained a lot of sanctity in my house because I believe my wife is contributing as much, if not more, than what I am doing. Its an inward, equal journey where action speaks louder than words,” he added.

At the festival, “Silence the Violence” bagged the first prize, while “Kasturi” secured second position. Comedy group East India Company’s short “I’m Not a Woman” was given the third prize.

The short film “Cover Up” bagged the people s choice award.

Khandelwal, along with “Girl Rising” producer Martha Adams, filmmaker Vibha Bakshi and US Consulate General Mumbai Public Affairs Officer Philip Roskamp selected the winning films.

“Gender violence is a universal problem. It is prevalent in all parts of the world – Mumbai, Los Angeles or Paris. We must be united in our efforts to put a stop to this problem,” Adams said.

The film festival, organised in partnership with Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India, received nearly 50 crowd-sourced entries.

The festival coincides with the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence” UN global campaign, which lasts from November 25 until December 10.

Inputs by PTI

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Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.