Actor Tamannaah Bhatia was among the select women from showbiz invited to the Capital to witness the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill. In her first interview following the bill’s passage, the 33-year-old actor expresses her “pride in representing not only women from the film industry but women in general” and adds that “the economy cannot grow without women contributing to it.”

Drawing parallels between showbiz and the changing landscape of gender representation, the Lust Stories 2 actor notes a substantial shift in the number of women working in showbiz over the years: “There would be only two women on set when I started off in films: me and my hairstylist.”

Bhatia praises the transformation that has taken place in the last decade, with more women actively participating in various roles on set. But remains unsatisfied with merely increasing the physical presence of women on sets. “The transition now needs to happen, not just physically or being part of the technical crew... The moment they start calling the shots as studio heads, the ones putting in money or someone taking the final call, that’s what will lead to transformation. It’s already there and happening,” she ends.