(Image source from: Instagram.com/ananyapanday)

Actress Ananya Panday speaks about the importance of setting up the Hema Committee to combat sexual exploitation of women in the film industry at the India Today Mind Rocks youth summit held in Bangalore on Saturday, September 14th. This actor spoke about her decisions as a young actress and she also commented on the safety of women in the industry. The actress, who received critical acclaim for her role in Prime Video's Call Me Bae, said women are coming together to form organizations like Hema Committee and are doing great work. She said “Having committees like the Hema Committee where women come together and tackle things like this is very important for any industry. Apparently no one else does this but women. And I definitely feel like changes have been made. As you can see, people are at least talking about it, but we still have a long way to go".

Ananya added that some production houses and filmmakers have started changing their processes and policies to ensure the safety of women on sets. “We have a hotline number in our contracts today, we have special clauses that guarantee the safety of women and I think our contact sheets also contain hotline numbers,” she said. There is a hotline where you can call and complain. “Even if you want to complain anonymously, I don't think this is just a problem in the film industry. It’s important to take care of this as quickly as possible”.

Ananya is one of the most respected young actors in Bollywood today. She spoke about how, as an actor, she realizes his power to influence people. The actor said that she is keen to talk about important issues. The popular star urged young actors to make their own decisions but take a stand on important issues. “At least stand up for something. This is so important. Instead of talking about everything, choose the things that matter to you. This is very important to me, such as the safety of women. She also stated that it is not speeches but actions that speak louder than words." She is currently busy promoting 'Call Me Bae' and will be seen in the 2019 biopic Akshay Kumar titled 'Shankara'. Winner As a second-year student, Karan Johar took up his first job in the industry.