Asha Parekh Slams Indian Women For Wearing Western Gowns To Weddings

 Asha Parekh at a film festival discussed how movies have changed over time and argued that we don't do enough to promote our own culture. She was speaking at a session of the 53rd International Film Festival of India, which is taking place in Goa.

According to Asha Parekh, it is hurtful that Indian women prefer to wear western-style gowns and dresses to their weddings rather than more traditional outfits like the ghaghra-choli.

Asha Parekh Slams Indian Women For Wearing Gowns To Weddings

The actor said, “Everything has changed. The films that are being made are …I do not know, we are so westernised. gowns pehen k wedding pe aa rahi hain ladkiyan. Arre bhaiya, humari ghaghra choli, saariyan aur salwar-kameez hai aap wo pehno na (Rough translation: Please wear the sarees, salwar kameez, and ghaghar cholis that we have.)"

She added, "Why don't you wear those? They just watch the heroines on the screen (and wish to copy them). Screen pe dekh ke wo jo kapde pehen rahe us tarah ke kapde hum bhi pehnenge …mote ho, ya jo, hum wahi phnenge. Ye western ho raha hai mujhe dukh hota hai (Rough translation: They merely want to dress in the attire that movie heroines wear. They don't care if the clothes look good on them, whether they're fat or not, or if they are. When I see this westernisation, it hurts me). We have such great dance, music, and culture that we could bring it all back into pop culture."

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Jaya Bachchan had previously commented on the westernisation of women's fashion, saying, "I feel what has happened is very unknowingly; we've accepted that western clothing is more... it gives that manpower to a woman."

Parekh also addressed the claim that she avoided working with Dilip Kumar because of the rumour that she didn't like him. She said, "A journalist claimed four to five years ago that I avoided working with Dilip Kumar because I didn't like him. I adored him and have always wanted to collaborate with him. I co-wrote a script with him for a movie called Zabardast. We were supposed to team up, but I had bad luck, so the film was shelved."