Positivity in people's movement changed my perspective: Kiran Rao

Filmmaker and actor Aamir Khan's wife Kiran Rao, who drew flak over a statement to her husband to consider moving out of the country due to the atmosphere of 'intolerance', on Thursday said that after seeing the people's movement in rural areas to fight out drought through Paani Foundation, her perspective has changed.

Rao, along with Aamir Khan, founded Paani Foundation, a water conservation initiative to fight drought in rural parts of Maharashtra. While speaking to media at an event in Pune, Rao stated that the positivity she has seen among people changed her perspective.

She said, "When I visited the rural areas of the state to see the work of the foundation, it really opened my heart. I witnessed people rising above their political barriers and starting a movement for a good cause. The positivity among people to work together for a social cause changed my perspective."

After Maharashtra witnessed severe drought in 2015, the duo set up the foundation in 2016 to work towards creating a drought-free Maharashtra. The foundation had initially selected 116 villages where a total of 1,368 crore liters of water storage capacity was created in 45 days through the participation of people.

The foundation had organised a competition 'Satyamev Jayate Water cup'

During an interview in 2015, Aamir had stated that Kiran had asked his if they should move out of India as she feared about the atmosphere of 'intolerance'. This statement of the actor has attracted huge row across the country and the couple had to face lot of criticism over the statement.

However, on Thursday, Rao looked overwhelmed by the response that their foundation has received from rural areas of Maharashtra. She said, "I always lived in the city but had never experienced village life. Through the work of the foundation, I experienced village life first hand."

"Over the time, we become so cynical and hardened by bad news every day. However, this travel (in rural Maharashtra) opened up my heart and it showed me how people are capable of great resilience, tenacity and so much of love. I was so inspired that it changed my perspective on many things," she said.