Shantanu Maheshwari started his career as a dancer with shows like Jhalak Dikhala Jaa, Nach Baliye 9, and Khatron Ke Khiladi. He is known for his dancing skills. He got recognition with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi. Recently he was praised for his amazing performance in Neeraj Pandey’s Auron Mei Kahan Dum Tha. On women’s day in an exclusive chat with Filmfare he spoke about what he learnt from women in his life and also how they changed his life in a better way.
Who is the most inspiring woman in your life, and what makes her special?
I would say my mother kyonki maa maa hoti hai.Then I would say my best friend Palki Malhotra. She has really helped me to be myself. And what makes it special is like her unwavering support, in strengthening me, in her ability to uplift people around. She has taught me resilience and the importance of believing in myself, no matter the circumstances, you can come up with something or the other. You just have to believe in yourself, and something will come out of it. And I feel that’s very important.
There have been so many women who have played a role in shaping me up, Mother, teacher, my friends and even well-wishers who show so much love and support every day. I feel that women have this unique power in making you believe in yourself, when you doubt the most. Their encouragement and honesty just helps you grow whether in life or career.
What’s the greatest life lesson you’ve learnt from a woman in your life?
That it’s very important to live in the moment and experience it to the fullest. Sometimes it’s very important to forget about your past, not to worry about your future. I’ve always said that jab tak balla chal raha hai tab tak thhaat hai. Aditya Birla ka ye ek tagline hai that I keep using. I’ve learnt be in the present moment, something will come out of it, and it’ll help you deal with it in a better manner.
Can you recall a moment when a woman’s resilience or kindness changed your perspective?
So, around 8, 9, 10, I had changed my school and I was struggling big time with my academics, so I had these extra classes with the school coordinator, Mrs. Banerjee, and nothing was going in my favour. I felt like I was still not improving in spite of these extra classes and numbers are not helping, scores are the same. I was kind of giving up on myself, but I still remember something in that class happened where, three to four of us were there in this extra class and she appreciated me and showed some kind of positivity towards that. And then just changed something in me, where I started believing in myself because I felt like if the teacher sees a potential in me, why am I not seeing that potential in myself and being hard on myself?
So, there was another one where I felt career wise, nothing was going the way I wanted them to. Things were looking downslope and then my best friend, Palki Malhotra just looked at me and said, “you’re only seeing what’s not going your way, but no, you’re forgetting the fact that how far you have come.” That just hit differently. So, I just feel that sometimes women see things we don’t.
What’s one piece of advice from a woman that has stuck with you?
That don’t try to please everyone and just be yourself. This advice has saved me so many times early in my career. I was very conscious of how I behave. I started out at a very early stage so sometimes you don’t know how to behave at certain places. You come from a different background, people expect you as a public figure, and they see you in a certain manner. You’re always there for scrutiny and in that process, sometimes you tend to be fake. During one of those times my best friend Palki told me that you can’t make everyone happy so do what makes you happy and that has stuck with me that I can be my authentic self. I don’t have to think or build another personality.
What message would you like to share with your female fans on Women’s day?
I would say just be yourself. You guys are the real MVPs (Most valued players), and the world runs because of you, no matter what they say. Keep doing what you do and keep breaking barriers, keep shining. The most, and most importantly, don’t let anyone tell you what you can or what you can’t. You guys have a very different perspective of seeing things and believe in your gut feeling.
What changes would you like to see in society to support and uplift women more?
Respect. Women deserve respect in every field, in every space. Equal opportunity.. I wouldn’t say equal pay because by default, when they are given equal opportunity, they will make sure that they get better pays. And most importantly, a society where they feel safe and valued. I also think that more women need to support. Women should support each other because when women uplift each other, magic happens.
There’s something that I’ve seen that powerful women, strong women are feared. If someone is genius, strong headed, knows what she’s doing, respect it, don’t fear, especially males. Males have this problem with strong headed women. That norm also needs to change.
See Also: Shantanu Maheshwari’s emotional reveal on his parents’ reaction to his debut in Gangubai Kathiawadi