Janhvi, Malaika, Dia, Mini Speak Out

After its UK edition, #WeTheWomen event returned to Mumbai for its eighth edition.

The festival of Glamour Gravitas and Grassroots was held at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir in Bandra, northwest Mumbai, on November 30.

Curated and moderated by journalist Barkha Dutt, it saw a line-up of strong women -- actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, columnist-author Shobhaa De, designer Masaba Gupta, cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur and actor Janhvi Kapoor among others.

Janhvi Kapoor makes a sunny appearance on stage.

During her conversation with Barkha Dutt, Janhvi made an important point: 'One thing I've learnt over the years is that jab tak aap khud ki izzat nahin karoge, koi aur bhi aapki izzat nahin karega (if you don't respect yourself, no one will respect you).'

Malaika Arora took the stage to launch her debut book, It's Easy To Be Healthy: Malaika's Guide To Living A Good Life.

Dia Mirza spoke about ageism, especially as an actor in the Hindi film industry.

'I have faced ageism. Which 70-year-old woman is cast opposite a 40-year-old man, and is playing a 45 year old? None. It doesn't happen. I was told that women have a shelf life in entertainment. But we decide when we should stop working.'

Neha Dhupia addressed the audience with...

...Rasika Dugal.

Kubbra Sait.

Mini Mathur spoke about menopause, saying, 'Women today have to handle the biggest transition of their life when they're least equipped to handle it.'

'Today, at 54, I feel more focused, I have more clarity and certain about my boundaries but I had a tough time finding space to draw these boundaries without people calling me someone who couldn't multitask.'

Ananya Birla.

Shobhaa De stated that to call oneself a writer, one has to write every single day, and revealed that she writes four hours a day.

Jaya Bachchan seemed upset with the media present, and lashed out on stage.

'My relationship with the media is fantastic. I'm the product of the media, but my relationship with the paparazzi is zero,' she said.

'Who are these people? Are they trained to represent the people of this country? You call them media? I come from the media. My father was a journalist. I have immense respect for such people.

'Magar ye jo bahar drain-pipe tight gande gande pant pahen ke haath mein mobile leke... they think they have a mobile in their hand so they can take your picture?

'The kind of comments they pass... What kind of people are these? Kahan se aate hain? Kis tarah ka education hai? Kya background hai? They will represent us? Just because they can get through YouTube or whatever social media.'

Reacting to being labelled one of the most hated celebrities online, Jayaji remains unfazed and said, 'I don't give a damn. You hate me; it's your opinion. My opinion is I dislike you immensely because you think you are a chuha (rat) who gets into somebody's house with a mobile camera.

'Agar aapko apna photo nikalne ke liye airport pe camera bulana pade, to phir kya tarah ka celebrity ho aap?'