Joining other Bollywood celebrities in the viral 'women supporting women' challenge on Instagram, actor Anushka Sharma on Wednesday shared a stunning monochrome picture of herself.
The 'Sultan' actor complimented the post with a note on her take on women empowerment and said it takes a lot of more than "strength" for women to navigate life as the world has been skewed against women.
"It takes a lot more effort, strength, perseverance, wisdom, knowledge, patience and grit for us to navigate life as the world has always been skewed against us. No one knows this better than us. Standing together in solidarity and not falling for the trap that is constantly laid down for us is our victory," she wrote.
"A trap is that makes us compare and judge one another, compete forever in the wrong race. Truthfully see how many times we might have fallen to this trap. The world wants us to be in this lower state of mind as it benefits from our lack of self-esteem. In reality, we are all unique and individually brilliant, resilient and resolute," she added.
The actor-turned producer further said the success of one woman only benefits others and helps them to aspire to be their true expression.
"The success of one woman will only benefit many others. It will lay the foundation for little girls to aspire to be their true expression not what is laid out for them," the 32-year-old actor said.
"To all the women who have inspired me, I bow down to your grace and strength that has lifted me when I needed it and to the ones who tried to push me down, I know this world can be harsh and that you were struggling with yourself and I love you just the same," she added.
So far, more than four million such posts have been shared on Instagram with the ChallengeAccepted hashtag. The challenge has circulated like a conventional chain mail where people nominate at least one other woman to post her own black-and-white portraits.
( With inputs from ANI )