When parenting his son, Sufi, actor Nakuul Mehta, is conscious of not making any statements that promote the “traditional idea of masculinity”. He says, “Saying things like, ‘Don’t cry like a girl’ is an absolute no. It’s something my wife, Jankee (Parekh Mehta, singer), and I have spoken about. But he meets people in our extended family who say that and there’s a constant battle between the two of us (he and his wife) if they need to be corrected.”

Not one to succumb to gender norms, the 40-year-old adds that he doesn’t stop his two-year-old from crying: “Sufi has his low days, too, and he cries. We don’t believe in stopping him from expressing himself.”

Nakuul recently shared a video on Instagram, where he’s seen dancing in a skirt. It has over three million views so far. Given the ongoing Pride Month, we ask what encouraged him to wear something that is “traditionally associated with the feminine” and he says, “Just like Pride Month, my video is also about inclusivity. People loved it and said, ‘That’s the kind of masculinity we need’. Even before the pandemic, I’d done an entire shoot in gender-fluid clothes. If I feel comfortable wearing something, why should traditional notions restrict me?”