She’s been called the badass, free-thinking actress that Bollywood needs.

Through her films, tweets, and powerful spoken-word PSAs, Kalki Koechlin has become a social justice warrior in India, challenging everything from rape culture and victim shaming to a growing moral numbness in the media.

In this scathing satirical video, she calls out newspapers and glossy magazines, criticizing “how our great Indian heritage fell to its knees at the mercy of our innocent little printing machines.”

With art as her megaphone, the 32-year-old actress has also shared bold messages about disability visibility, human trafficking, and freedom of speech.

Fittingly, on International Women’s Day, Koechlin showed up in Reddit’s India community for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session. There, she discussed everything from feminism to incorporating LGBTQ issues into the cultural conversation to how she’s been stereotyped by society based on her looks.

Here’s what she believes.

On skin-lightening creams

A 2014 Morgan Stanley report found that the No. 1 thing Indian consumers want in a cream is the ability to lighten their skin color. Shaadi.com, a leading Indian matrimonial website, cited fair skin as the the most important criteria when choosing a partner.

Bollywood stars often appear in films and ads as whitened versions of themselves, and promote products and treatments that help the masses achieve the same look. But people are speaking out the unfair cultural obsession and its impacts. Koechlin is one of them.

On how people have stereotyped her based on her skin color

On what she believes feminism is all about

When redditor baazigar1 asked her how feminism be applied in India, Koechlin replied, “Basic safety for women would be a start.”

As for ensuring equal pay among men and women in Bollywood, she believes that it starts with the types of roles women are given. “Equal pay won’t happen because there is a hero-based industry,” she writes. “Only when women are pulling in people to the cinemas in leading roles like Deepika [Padukone] in Piku, and only when this is no longer the exception but the norm, can we expect equal pay. So we need to strive for scripts that empower women, make women our heroes, too.”

Baazigari1 noted that in the ’80s and ’90s, many Indian movies depicted females in a negative light, and wondered if that was the fault of Bollywood or the social climate of that particular time.

Koechlin wrote, “Bollywood is a reflection of society. If the society looks down upon women, so will our films.”

On rape culture

Redditor ratkingofbombay asked this question: “Many activists like Arundhati Roy make the claim that India has a serious problem with a pervasive rape culture. Do you agree with this and if so, what is the best way to educate people when both hindu nationalists and western feminists often try to dismiss the problems of rape in India?”

Koechlin responded: “I think the problem of rape is a wordwide phenomenon. I think it has to do with power, and asserting power over women, because of sexual frustration or class divides. The way to change this is educating people about gender equality, getting boys and girls to study together, with equal opportunity from a young age.”

On promoting LGBTQ rights in India

She also added this.

On the freedom of speech

To celebrate International Women’s Day—which should be 365 days a year, really—hear Koechlin read her inspirational poem, “Dear Men.”

Check out the full discussion with Koechlin in Reddit’s India community.