Mandira Bedi, who started as an actress in the 1990s, entered television in the year 2000. She was appointed as a presenter at the 2003 Cricket World Cup. However, at least for the first few days the experience was only pleasant for him. Mandira opened up about the challenges she faced during an interaction with Kareena Kapoor Khan in an episode of her show What Women Want.
Revealing how cricket veterans have faced sexist behaviour, she said, ‘Nowadays there is space for women everywhere, be it cricket or sports telecast. But when you’re the first to do it, people look at you with a magnifying glass. They scrutinize you, they have comments about you, and they tell you that you don’t belong there. ‘What is she doing? Why is she discussing cricket?’
He continued, “But, the channel put me on board to ask questions (in the mind of the common man). They wanted to get a new audience, and for that they put me on board. It was difficult to begin with, because there was very little acceptance. When you’re on a panel Sitting and talking to legends, it’s a different language when you’re sitting on the couch watching a cricket match, but with the cameras here, you have to speak their language.”
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Mandira revealed that she cried every day after the live telecast. “In the first week, I had a lot of stuff going through my head. I was very nervous and anxious. When the camera’s red light came on, I was tongue-tied. I didn’t even believe I belonged there. I just wanted to be accepted and be a part of the furniture. I wanted them to be okay with being around me. People should accept me, love me and want me around,” she said.
“A week was full of hesitations, fumbles and mistakes. At the end of every show, I would put my head down and cry. The great men on either side of me, I would ask them questions and they would look at me. They would turn to the camera and answer whatever they wanted to answer, There was nothing connected to my question, because my question was probably not relevant or important to them. I felt insulted,” added Mandira.
However, things changed when she regained her confidence after Chanel’s intervention. “At the end of the first week, there was an intervention and the channel called me and said, ‘We’ve chosen you out of thousands of women, we believe you belong there. You’re not an analyst, expert or commentator, you’re a presenter. Go out there and have fun, Show them your personality. That intervention was really helpful, it was a turning point for me that day,” he expressed.
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The actor continued, “Whatever I asked is not off the table, I came back confident that I will continue to ask him. I asked legend number one, ‘What do you think of XYZ cricketer?’ He looked at me and answered something on camera as usual. I said again, ‘But you didn’t answer my question’. What to do? Finally, I was getting my answers and people were respecting me.
It was actually Kareena Kapoor Khan’s father-in-law and Saif Ali Khan’s father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi who treated her with utmost respect. She told Kareena, “When people ask me what was the best compliment you got when you played in the World Cup in 2003. It was your father-in-law. He made it to the semi-finals and the final. He was very respectful, kind and sweet. The first time he met me, he shook my hand. Said, ‘So you are the one who is talking about Mandira Bedi. It made me feel very good and special.’
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