It’s one thing to be identified and recognized by your culture, region or community (and to be proud of it) and another to be put in a box because of it. And Paatal Lok actor Swastika Mukherjee spoke up about this very thing in a tweet of hers.
In the post, she asked, “What is ‘Bengali actress’ ?! Does anyone write ‘Hindi actress’ for those whose mother tongue is Hindi?” Mukherjee wrote this as a way to point out what makes the practice of labeling actors with their region problematic.
And here’s how netizens responded to her statement. While many people asked why being called a Bengali actor is a problem, because it is a thing of pride to be Bengali, others agreed with her and pitched in about why this happens.
Claiming or owning a certain culture or region can many times mean respecting and valuing it. But, in my personal opinion, it shouldn’t be the reason someone is counted out or the reason they’re denied access to a larger pool of opportunities.