Ayushmann Khurrana slams gender-based awards in Bollywood

Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana threw his weight behind ‘gender-neutral awards’ and hailed Berlin Film Festival’s announcement to do away with them.

The system of awarding actors in a gender-specific manner is ‘outdated’, believes the actor.

“We are all actors at the end of the day and gender divisions only highlight the long prevalent divisive nature of societies. Thus, it is important that gender-neutral awards should become the norm when it comes to adjudicating the best work in a year,” said Khurrana in a statement. He expressed his wish that film festivals across the world would follow Berlin’s footsteps.

“Gender divisions are too deep rooted and the film industry can really do their bit to champion change. Gendered awards, according to me, are totally outdated and should be scrapped,” he added.

The versatile actor, who is on a career high with films including ‘Article 15’, believes that actors’ worth should be measured without taking their gender into account.

“I seriously hope all award functions in India take a step in the right direction and do what is the most obvious thing towards having a more progressive society. For me, good performances are good performances and they should be seen without the gender lens,” said Khurrana.