Menu
Contributed by: Asha Dahya
Hey UA readers! Asha Dahya here, I am the editor-in-chief of GirlTalkHQ.com. I was asked to host the red carpet event for Urban Asian, the Showbiz India TV ‘Sweet 16’ event in Beverly Hills. The theme of the party was women’s empowerment, which is why I was stoked to be part of this shoot! GirlTalkHQ is all about women’s empowerment, and being an Indian girl myself, it was great to see a network using their platform and an event like this to promote something so important.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSpyFgWVTi8&feature=youtu.be
The new movie ‘Miss India America’ premiered their trailer during the event, and many of the cast were on hand to talk about how the film shows a different view of beauty pageants, and how the South Asian community is influencing many areas in Hollywood.
Some of my favorite red carpet interviews were singer/songwriter Jahan from Krewella, Tiya Sircar who played a sassy tech wiz in ‘The Internship’, and the hilarious Parvesh Cheena and Rizwan Manji who you may remember from ‘Outsourced’.
I had the chance to ask both the men and women how they felt about some of the horrific events that have been taking place in India over the past few years, and the most common thing they all said was that it is important to speak about these issues, and use whatever platform we have to drive awareness.
The fact that Bollywood is so popular in mainstream Hollywood and other regions is a testament to how powerful it can be when we see celebrities take a stand for something.
Over in India we have seen actors such as Aamir Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Farhan Akhtar and even publications like Femina magazine and Vogue India speak up about women’s empowerment. Heck, even India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to do something about the way women are treated!
It’s easy to brush aside entertainment and say it is meaningless in the face of such important issues, but I have to disagree. In fact, because we live in such a celebrity and entertainment-driven culture, we can look at it as an incredible vehicle of communication to send either a strong or a stupid message.
Seeing the stars at the Showbiz India TV event (including the network’s founder Reshma Dordi whose idea it was to dedicate her network’s birthday celebration to female empowerment) made me realize that everyone can do their part for female empowerment and to change any form of injustice. Whether it is speaking about it in an interview, starting a blog, writing a movie script or donating to a charity.
I personally hope you are inspired and entertained by these interviews and I can’t wait to team up with Urban Asian again in the future! If you want to check out more of what I am doing head over to GirlTalkHQ.com, follow us on twitter @girltalkhq, Instagram @girltalkHQ and Facebook: facebook.com/girltalkhq.
