Actor Srushti Mishra, who is currently seen playing Ragini in Ram Bhavan, a Rahul Kumar Tewary and Rolling Tales Production, speaks from the heart as she addresses an issue often left undiscussed—men’s mental health.

“Men need safe spaces too. Pain doesn’t have a gender,” she says candidly, advocating for more awareness around men’s emotional struggles. For Srushti, talking about mental health isn’t just a monthly theme—it’s a conversation that needs to happen all year round, across all genders.

She believes society has conditioned men to suppress their emotions. “They’re told ‘be a man’, ‘don’t cry’, ‘you’re the provider’. But even the strongest get tired. It’s okay to break down sometimes, to say it out loud. But men have been taught not to,” she reflects.

Drawing from her own life, Srushti shares how growing up with her father and two brothers made her witness this emotional restraint firsthand. “My father never expressed what he was going through. My brothers were a little open earlier, but now with responsibilities, they’ve gone quiet too. They share work stress maybe, but never what they feel emotionally. I think men fear being judged if they open up,” she says.

According to her, the silence of men is often misread by others as indifference or lack of care. “What we don’t see is that it’s pain buried for too long. We women often mistake it as detachment, but it’s unspoken hurt. And somewhere, women also need to be more emotionally attuned—to recognise that men too carry burdens they struggle to name,” she adds.

Srushti stresses that just as women are given emotional freedom—to cry, share, lean on others—men too deserve that safe space. “They don’t always need solutions. Sometimes they just need presence. Someone to listen without judgment.”

Her message is clear: emotional support is not a gendered need. “We say ‘mard ko dard nahi hota’, but that’s so far from the truth. I’ve seen it. Men need support, too—just like women, just like everyone.”

With Ram Bhavan, Srushti continues to explore strong characters onscreen. But it’s her off-screen voice—empathetic, clear, and honest—that reminds us why these conversations matter.