Aahana Kumra: I am a woman and I have agency of my own body

Lipstick Under My Burkha fame actress Aahana Kumra was recently in the news when she scolded a fan who put his arms around her waist while clicking a picture with her. Aahana, who was not comfortable with this close encounter of an extremely personal kind, reprimanded the man immediately and told him to not touch her, politely but firmly. Aahana, who has just come back from an event abroad spoke to us about the incident and why she reacted the way she did and also spoke to us about her recent shooting experience in Dehradun and more...

Talking about the incident of a fan putting his arms around her waist at an event while clicking pictures with the actress, Aahana says, "Although I am pretty sure that the fan's intention was not to misbehave with me while putting his hand on my waist, yet when the fans come to us for selfies and pictures they do tend to take the liberty of touching us. It is not alright! I think this comes from them seeing us so much on social media that they think they know us very well when they actually do not. They feel they are very familiar with us but the fact is that they do not know us personally enough to take the liberty of touching us. Fans should not cross their lines with women, even if they are celebrities. I am a woman and I have agency of my own body and it is my right to tell someone who touches me inappropriately. A no means no!
-- On scolding a fan who touched her inappropriately
Known for mostly doing roles of women who are bold and take a stand, Aahana says, "The kind of roles that I have done so far have been bold only. And do I intend to break the image that the industry has drawn of me... well, the character that I play in the current film that I shot for in Doon has been quite lovely and is very different from whatever roles I have played so far. I am glad that somebody offered me that kind of a role. I guess slowly that image is breaking now that I can only play a bold woman on screen. I don't like to put myself into a box but if the industry wants to put me into some kind of box, I say no to them and break those boxes and find new spaces for myself."
-- On mostly doing bold roles

My experience of shooting in Doon was phenomenal. I love the city and it took me away from so much noise that is there in Mumbai. It was beautiful waking up every morning to so many different species of birds and also monkeys. I used to go for a run every morning surrounded by that view. It was nothing but complete bliss! What I love the most about Doon is that everything is so close by. Like if I want to go to Mussoorie, Rishikesh, or anywhere else, it is just a few hours away from there. When I was there, I went to Rishikesh three times for river rafting. I went to Landour and Mussoorie also. I just loved the experience.
-- On shooting in Dehradun

Despite being from Lucknow, Aahana is yet to play a girl from the city of her birth. Commenting on that she says, "I am yet to play a girl from UP. I think I will have to write that part for myself because I don't see anybody else doing that for me."
-- Not played a UP girl despite being from Lucknow