Women are much more than the size of their breast: Tahira Kashyap

Ayushmann Khurrana's wife Tahira Kashyap is a fighter in true sense. Also a filmmaker, Tahira proved that anything can be battled if there's a strong will. She not only fought breast cancer with painful chemotherapy sessions but all this while, she also kept inspiring others fighting the same battle. And while many women end up losing an integral part of their body during surgery, Tahira believes that women is much more than that. Isn't she right?

After she was diagnosed with the cancer years ago, Tahira believes that she has evolved over the course of time and moreover, she has become even more determined to make an identity of her own. When asked if anyone shows or treats her sympathetically after all that she has undergone, Tahira boldly declared, "I'm not a bechari."

'Never played the victim card'

"I'm not a bechari, and I have never played the victim card. In all these years, I've never asked the question, 'why me' and I don't want to go there now. Probably the reason I suffered is to spread the word, make people more aware, and normalise the conversation around breast cancer and its early detection. I'm a science student, educated and I still didn't pay heed to the symptoms. In many cases, the detection happens at a much later stage," she expressed.

"When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn't know the outcome, and I refused to harp on the kind of pain one goes through. In fact, I did a lot of pre-production work while I was undergoing chemotherapy. The day you stop blaming yourself or anyone else for what happens, people will stop seeing you through that prism," the writer-director added.

There were times when Tahira chose to go online and document what's going on only to face heavy trolling. But negativity didn't stop her, instead, she took it positively and said, "with all this came prayers, good wishes and love, too, and I chose not to hide behind walls. When I started growing my mane again, they called Ayushmann and me brothers and said, 'do bande chale aa rahe hain' on social media. I'd be lying if I said these things never affected me, but I've learnt the art of pulling up my spirit."

Ayushmann Khurrana wants Tahira to direct him

Now, her husband Ayushmann is a well known, respected name in the town who expressed a wish of being directed by wife Tahira earlier in an interview.

Reacting to his comment, she said, "At home, we're equals but professionally, he's my senior now. He may want me to direct him, but I also have to be in a position to do that. I have to earn it, and he has to like my script. It doesn't seem right to start my feature with him in it just because he's my husband."

Its been about two years that she came across this major roadblock in her smooth life and yes in this span, she has risen and proved that a woman is much more than her breasts!