'There is a culture of silence around female desire'

Mumbai: Actor Swara Bhasker says she expected to be trolled for the masturbation scene in Veere Di Wedding but she also knew that it will help start a conversation about female desire, which is still considered an untouchable topic in Indian society and cinema.

"I expected to be trolled for this. There is an inherent shock value to the scene. There are people in our society who slut shame. I am quite open about things, give my opinion on political issues, so people will not leave any opportunity to attack me but the film is much more than the masturbation scene," Swara said.

The actor who has always been open about her thoughts in public, said that she is glad that it is the first mainstream Bollywood film to openly show female desire.

"Everyone will have their own perspective and it is good that a conversation has started. Apart from that, in the whole of South Asia, there is this culture of silence when it comes to issues of female sexuality, female body or female desire. We are silent about it," she said. "We show it in a metaphorical way, through songs and philosophy. But we shy away from owning and accepting it. Somewhere this film has spoken about it openly," she added.