'Was always curious to know how arranged marriages work'

Shweta Tripathi Sharma, who is the female lead in the soon-to-be- released Kaalkoot web series, talks about gender justice, arranged marriages, and being self-reliant — all themes explored in the series.

ABOUT KAALKOOT

It is a crime drama show which explores patriarchy. While investigating an acid attack, a cop (played by Vijay Varma) discovers gender inequality and exposes it. Crimes against women are taken for granted in our society.

People feel women deserve it. Our colour, class, race and gender should not define how we are treated.

ABOUT THE WAY THE SERIES HAS AFFECTED HER

I consider myself a liberated girl. But because of the series, I was surprised to find that I h a d been conditioned to think in a certain way. And I realised that it could make others think differently too. I feel we should not conveniently blame society for various ills, but try to bring about a change. If we want to change society, we should bring about a change in ourselves.

ON THE SYSTEM OF ARRANGED MARRIAGE

I was always curious to know how arranged marriages work. How can you judge a person who you’ve met for a short while? Even if you’ve been associated with a person or worked alongside them for years, you can’t know them.

ABOUT APPS ON MARRIAGES

Such apps list the qualities of an ‘ideal’ bride, in the eyes of a prospective groom and his family, such as fair complexion, good looks, a good job, etc. It’s up to us to ignore such apps. If at least a few people stay away from them, it’s a start. The rest will follow.