Dia Mirza To Sushmita Sen: Bollywood Celebrities Who Responded To Haters On Premarital Sex

Actor Dia Mirza brushed off the attention around her pregnancy and second marriage and claimed that when it comes to women's rights, "we are in the dark ages." She alluded to current events in the US, where arguments over abortion policy have raged for decades and claimed that many people have "regressive ideas" regarding premarital sex and pregnancy.

We support women's liberation and empowerment (or at least we say we do), but let's take a moment to consider this. Do we go far enough? Still today, women are denigrated in the guise of culture.

Bollywood Celebrities On Premarital Sex

Self-declared guardians of Indian culture questioned the timing of conception as soon as Alia revealed she was pregnant, about two months after being married to Ranbir Kapoor. Here are some celebrities who chose not to stay silent and openly spoke about premarital sex. 

Dia Mirza

Echoing women’s rights in society today, Dia says, “We are in the dark ages when it comes to women’s rights in many aspects. Look at the kind of crimes that continue to be committed against women. Look at America, it’s supposed to be a great democracy, right? Look how far behind they have gone when it comes to women’s rights. Women can’t go through an abortion if they want! At least in India, the law protects women and their rights. I think as a society we need to learn to respect that more.”

Shabana Azmi

Several women are breaking the boundaries and emerging as superwomen who are leading change despite society's restrictive practices. Shabana Azmi, a seasoned actor who has advocated for women's rights and female empowerment, believes it can be challenging to defy social standards. She tells ET times, “Resistance is needed not only for oneself but also to reshape the society, to overcome the long-ingrained patriarchal values. Celebrities are under constant scrutiny, but my father told me a long time ago to not pay heed to the fear of "log kya kahenge.”

Kalki Koechlin

Premarital sex also left a scar on many actors' existence. In a 2015 interview with The Express Tribune, Bollywood A-list actor, one of such survivors, Kalki Koechlin opened up about her sexual abuse as a child. She said, “I allowed someone to have sex with me at the age of nine, not understanding fully what it meant and my biggest fear after was that my mother would find out. I felt it was my mistake and so I kept it hidden for years. If I had had the confidence or awareness to confide in my parents it would have saved me years of complexes about my own sexuality. It's important that parents remove the taboo around the word sex or private parts so kids can speak openly and be saved from potential abuse.”

Sushmita Sen

In a 2006 interview with the Hindustan Times, Sen was asked if she felt difficult to get into a relationship with a virgin boy because of her image of a woman who always enticed married men. To this, she replied, “Virginity has lost its meaning today. And it's true for a man as well as a woman. No one investigates whether a woman or a man is a virgin or not before getting into a relationship. Everyone knows that sex is an experience of life. When I am in love, I am in love and when I am not I am not. It's as simple as that. The media has given this image to me but the industry and people who are my friends, colleagues and co-stars know me very well.” 

Neena Gupta

When Neena gave birth to Masaba in 1989 without getting married to West Indies batsman Vivian Richards, a lot was made of their relationship. Years later, Neena wed chartered accountant Vivek Mehra of Delhi. The autobiography Sach Kahun Toh by Bollywood actor Neena Gupta details her life's journey from the time she moved to Mumbai in the 1980s and raised her daughter Masaba Gupta alone, she disclosed details of her life that many people weren't aware of in the book launch. In her autobiography, she said that although she was married at an early age while pursuing her masters in Sanskrit, her marriage split after a year. Neena wrote, “During the short time, Amlan and I were married, we never quarrelled much. Not about our daily lives, the way our house was run or about my studies and career. We were both very, very young when we dove into marriage, but to this day, I don’t have a harsh thing to say about him.”

Suggested Reading: Dear Women, Premarital Sex Isn’t A Mistake. Get Over The Guilt

Kubbra Sait

Kubbra Sait, who starred in Sacred Games, revealed a lot about her past in her book Open Book: Not Quite A Memoir. Kubbra disclosed in one of the chapters that she had an abortion after becoming pregnant at the age of 30 following a "one-night encounter." In a chapter titled I Wasn't Ready to Be a Mother, Kubbra talked about her journey to the Andamans, where she ended up having a "one-night stand" with a close friend that led to an unintended pregnancy. In the chapter, she also disclosed that she had chosen to abort the pregnancy since she wasn't yet prepared to become a mother.