Actor Swara Bhasker and activist Gurmehar Kaur are among 40 prominent personalities from politics, sports, theatre and arts, who will speak on gender empowerment at the upcoming event — The Bridge.

The Bridge is an initiative for ideas and conversations on gender empowerment in India and a new leap to bring together voices that challenge the established norms around gender representation.

The event will witness 40 speakers sharing their journey in their respective fields and will offer an insight how women and girls are changing the world in the 21st century.

“At The Bridge, we hope to have the uncomfortable conversations that are imperative for us to recognise and acknowledge the magnitude and depth of our patriarchal attitude and practices. We bring together voices from across the country, genders, classes, ideologies, and experiences who are breaking silos and silences, and compelling us to realise the full possibility of equality and empowerment of genders,” Richa Shah, Festival director The Bridge, said during one of the interviews.

On The Bridge’s initiative for gender empowerment activist Gurmehar Kaur believes women’s voices have boomed and are louder than ever and initiates like these only push that movement.

Actor Parvathy, who was last seen in Qarib Qarib Singlle, is grateful for the trailblazers who have carved out this space for women.

“I am grateful for the trailblazers who have carved out this space for us where we can come in safely and bring forth the issues we are facing daily due to gender inequality. However, I do not wish to take that for granted and I believe it is my responsibility to actively participating in blazing a whole new trail for the present and future generations to sustain a healthy dialogue and arrive at resolutions. The Bridge is a fertile ground where we can actively participate to work towards this very goal and I am thrilled to be a part of it,” Parvathy said.

The Bridge will feature a stellar line-up of national and regional names including Swara Bhaskar  (Actress), Naina Lal Kidwai (Chairman, Max Financial Services), Mahua Moitra (MLA- TMC), Aparna Jain (Author), Renuka Chowdhury (MP- INC), Shailaja Chandra (Former Chief Secretary, Delhi), Parvathy (Actress), Alankrita Shrivastava (Director),  Mallika Dua (Comedian), Laxmi Narayan Tripathi  (Transgender Activist), and Gurmehar Kaur (Activist).

The Bridge 2018 will take place on 24 March 2018 at the Shangri-La Hotel, New Delhi.