Twinkle Khanna Reveals Why She Never Changed Her Surname After Marriage To Akshay, 'I Like...'

Twinkle Khanna is the daughter of veteran actor, Rajesh Khanna and actress, Dimple Kapadia. She made her acting debut in 1995 with the film, Barsaat. However, after her marriage to Akshay Kumar, she left the entertainment industry. She is now a renowned Indian author and columnist. However, her recent comments on the celebrity talk show, Two Much with Kajol and Twinkle, have raised many eyebrows. In a recent interview, Twinkle shared why she didn’t change her surname after marriage.

Twinkle Khanna opens up about not changing her surname after her marriage to Akshay Kumar

In a recent interview with the BBC, Twinkle Khanna opened up about not changing her surname after her marriage to Bollywood actor, Akshay Kumar. The author shared that her sister also didn’t change her surname after her marriage. Recalling how this thing was brought up in family gatherings by a 'batty aunt', Twinkle said that her only reply was I want to change my first name, that is 'Twinkle'. The author was quoted as saying:

"I think I've been married for about 25 odd years. So has my sister. And at that point of time, again, like I said, feminism was not in our lexicon, but we never changed our last name; we are the Khanna sisters. Aunt used to say, 'Y'all are Pagal sisters, you know, why haven't you changed? Yeah, mad sisters, why haven't you changed your name?' If I had to change my name, I changed my first name, it's Twinkle."

Twinkle Khanna shares that she never felt the urge to change her surname

In the same interview, Twinkle shared that she never felt the urge to change her surname. She highlighted that she loved her last name, 'Khanna'. She expressed that although women in India don’t get the privilege like this and they need to change their surnames and take their husband’s last name. However, in her case, there was no pressure upon her. Citing an example from her childhood days, Twinkle shared that until her 30s, she didn’t know the term patriarchy, as in her family, women were treated equally, rather than as superior. She was quoted as saying:

"I like Khanna. These are not things that we thought about, it just didn't occur to us that we had to change our last name. And as you said, that a lot of women in India would not probably have the same privilege, isn't it? A lot of them would have to bow down to patriarchy even today.I was very fortunate that I didn't even realise patriarchy existed till I was in my 30s. I had no clue because my worldview was shaped in such a way that I thought we are equal, we are superior, we are everything."

Twinkle Khanna talks about gender-based favouritism and patriarchy existing in the film industry

Further in the interview, Twinkle revealed that only after entering the entertainment world, she got to know the gender bias. She shared how male actors were said to say nothing if they came late on sets, but if she was late for minutes or so, she would get fired for it. She also cited a few more examples of gender-based favouritism. She mentioned that it took her a long time to understand the inequality, as she had never faced such things before. Twinkle was quoted as saying:

"Every time I came across an incident that was blatant patriarchy, I brushed it away. For example, when I started working as a young actress, if you know, the actor came late, and nobody said a word to him. But I was fired even if I was 15 minutes late. Or if he had a bigger room, or you know, he was called much later than I was called, I just brushed it away, thinking he's more successful, he's famous, he's senior. I didn't realise that it was only because he was a man and I was a woman."

What are your thoughts on Twinkle Khanna's revelation? Let us know.

Also Read: Hema Malini Breaks Down Remembering Her Late Husband, Dharmendra At Prayer Meet, 'Hum Dono Ko Ek...'

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