Mumbai, Feb 10 (IANS): Bollywood actress Tara Sutaria has spoken about what self love means to her and said that she has always loved the idea of love.

Tara has collaborated with Bumble, the women-first dating app, to launch a new campaign 'Before anyone else, there was you' ahead of Valentine's Day to encourage self-love.

Asked about what self-love means to her, Tara said: "I think self-love or loving yourself means so many different things to different people. To me and to so many of us, I know that this will resonate because we all went through a pretty rough time recently when Covid hit the world and I think self-love took a new shape and meaning for all of us.

"All of us learnt to slow down and truly understand ourselves, begin to hear ourselves and therefore, love ourselves. I've always loved the Idea of love - call it utopia, idealistic - and I've always looked at love with a lot of love, but I've never really looked at myself with that sort of love so it's taken me a lot to get to where I am today which is learning to really and truly understand every part of myself - the good, the bad, the ugly - everything that comes with being human, I suppose."

Talking about the qualities she looks for in her future partner, Tara adds, "I don't necessarily or intentionally look for qualities in a partner or somebody that I'm with but I've realised over the years what is important in every relationship in my life -- my friendships, my family and all other relationships -- life can be pretty hectic and complicated sometimes but what really helps, especially in the bad times, is a really good sense of humour."

"And, I think, especially with the kind of lifestyle that I have, it's very important to look at things with a pinch of salt and just enjoy the mundane and the crazy days. It's not always possible and it might sound a bit idealistic but I think I look for that quality more than others in all the relationships that I have in my life."