It all starts as humour: Shefali Shah says disrespect is the biggest red flag in relationships

Actor's film 'Darlings' sparked a debate surrounding domestic violence and abusive relationship

Shefali Shah has been riding high on the success of her recent venture, the Alia Bhatt and Vijay Varma-starrer, Darlings. The Netflix original saw Bhatt's maiden production spark a debate surrounding domestic violence and abusive relationships. Shah plays the Gangubai Kathiawadi star's headstrong mother in the film, adamant to save her daughter.

In a recent conversation with Pinkvilla, the Delhi Crimes actor shed light on what she considered the biggest red flag in a relationship. Responding to the same, Shah said, "Disrespect". The actor further elaborated, "You know disrespect can start on a very light level of humour and you don't realise it."

She went on, "It starts as 'Oh, this is how he is, he doesn't really understand'. It's not funny after a point of time. You want to say something and if you have to hold it back, then there is a serious problem. If you start thinking that I really want to share something but let it go as its reaction would be bad."

Shah added, "If you are worried about being yourself in front of somebody - good, bad, ugly, then there is a problem. In a relationship, you're supposed to feel safe and secure and accepted. You should not be worrying that it's good but let it go."

The actor, in another interview, shared her thoughts about making a dark comedy while being aware of the sensitivity of the topic. "Well, one word to use is challenging."

She further remarked, "The other word to use is just that you need basic sensitivity to understand the seriousness of what we're talking about, and it was not undermining that at all. That issue has been put out there the way it happens. But then there is also this other thing, which comes into the caption, 'Hitting women is self-harming,' and it becomes a comedy of errors. None of us is laughing at that situation."

The Dil Dhadakne Do star went on, "We loath it and have strong feelings about it. But whatever happens around us because of the situation, that is funny. The way these characters talk, they're inherently what they say. They're not meaning to be funny. They are just like that. So, all of it is and it's not sensationalising. Neither is it undermining the sensitivity nor the importance of this conversation. It's a very delicate, very pertinent and very important conversation. I wish we didn't have to have these conversations. I wish it just stopped. But unfortunately [that's not the case]."