Actor Angad Bedi has never really shied away from taking up challenging projects that let him also touch upon important issues, case in point his recent outing, Lust Stories 2. In the web anthology, the actor featured in a short that talks about the importance of sexual compatibility between couples and the need for families to have open conversation around sex.
“Sex education is very important, and we’ll not be shy about conveying about it to our kids. We’d rather teach them properly for their own security and safety. It’s our responsibility as parents,” says Bedi, who is married to actor Neha Dhupia, and is father of two children — daughter Mehr and son Guriq.
Recalling the time when he was growing up, Bedi says it was only around the age of 17-18 when parents would feel comfortable talking about things related to sex to their children. “But now, kids these days get to know about it when they are just 13. They are definitely growing up faster and their minds are working much better. They will have many questions much earlier than the age at which we started asking our parents,” says the actor.
Looking back, the 40-year-old laments how there was no concept of sex education in schools back in the day, and he feels glad that things are changing for good. “Now, there is enough knowledge and reading material on it. There are teachers in school who openly talk about it. That exposure is there. If we celebrate a child being born, how is the child being born is my question? Why are we shying away from talking about how the birth happened? It is something we really need to think about and educate our kids,” he asserts.
Furthermore, given the exposure to content online, there has been better acceptance and understanding when it comes to discussing sex. Even the audiences have become more progressive and started to grasp such stories.
Agreeing with this, Bedi says, “Indian audience is accepting good stories. And it just needs the right kind of maker to tell that story, and the correct actors who are formidable enough to carry it forward. Sometimes, it sounds very ironical that we are the same people who belong to the land of Kamasutra, and we are the ones who have made sex a taboo. You should be able to talk about sex on your dinner table without feeling uncomfortable. The more you communicate, the less offensive it will sound.”