Ratna Pathak Shah is a woman who has time and again inspired generations to speak their mind, even if you are in an industry that doesn’t believe in doing so. Her bold and honest remarks delivered in the most brazen manner have truly defined how remarkable she is.
Here are a few times, when she blew us away with her honesty in interviews:
1. When she unapologetically addressed how patriarchy affects both men and women.
2. When she spoke about being stereotyped as Maya Sarabhai, despite doing other successful work.
3. When she called out the standards of today’s TV writers and tore them apart.
4. And then said this again on Film Companion about the Indian entertainment industry.
They can’t even write good roles for poor Shah Rukh Khan. Ab kiske liye likhenge? Woh aata hi nahi unko toh kya karein woh? Maaf kar do unko.
5. And threw shade on ‘commercially’ successful films, even ones that she was a part of, like a boss.
What kind of a demand does a script like Golmaal 3 make? The greatest demand it does make is one of patience.
6. When she revealed that most of her work isn’t ‘paying’.
Frankly, paying work kuch nahi kar rahi hoon. I have been busy all my life but I have had paying work in very small spurts. So it’s okay, my husband earns enough for the two. Woh bechara apna “soul sell” karta firta hai.
7. And that she and her husband, Naseeruddin Shah have an understanding of how much money they want to earn.
We both realised that it is easy to get money to get by and lead a fairly comfortable and decent lives. And if you want to do other things then money should not become priority. I believe once I arrived at that in my head, I got the sense of great release and relief that I could choose things with other considerations, not just financial.
8. And when she said a few words about their love story, it proved they’re meant for each other.
Itna kuch bhi romantic nahi hua tha. We fell in love and have been inseparable ever since. The first theatre play we did together was titled Sambhog Se Sanyaas Tak, and that is the story of our life. Bas sanyaas lena baaki hai.
9. When she reflected on how television has actually regressed over the years.
10. She has even spoken up about sex education in India, or the lack thereof.
11. When she spoke up about how the team behind Sarabhai VS Sarabhai had to be convinced by the audience that it was a good show.
It was the dumbest bunch of television executives that they had put together to handle our show. This has convinced me that it is not our audiences who are at fault. The poor state of entertainment across the board is because we have got a bunch of idiot producers. That’s the only reason we are producing shit year after year. We have been producing shit and reveling in it.
There is a reason why she was and will always be our favourite.
