Actresses are always typecast and there is also a lack of female-centric roles in the industry. What do you have to say to that?
We’ve been seeing female-centric films quite often in Bollywood. All of them may not have done really well in the box-office, but in the last 2 years, there have been an influx of films where the female character has been the lead and I think that is a great change. There have been films like Kahani, Piku, Tannu Weds Mannu and its sequel, Queen, NH 10, now Pink and even Akira!
And in the South?
I can’t say the same for South. I have tried to fight this battle while I was there…I wouldn’t say I’ve given up but I tried to use a different route. When I began, I didn’t know what was right for me. I was told that I should take up everything that comes my way, especially if there are big names involved. But when films bombed at the box office, the actors weren’t blamed but I was tagged as ‘unlucky’ even though I had a very insignificant role to play. On the contrary, if an actress produces three back-to-back hits, she is touted as the next golden girl in the industry even though she is just a glamour quotient in the film. So basically, superstition matters over talent. So I stopped doing films that I didn’t understand, so from having seven releases a year, I came down to one or two releases a year. People started seeing this as my downfall but I just felt that doing films I don’t believe in hasn’t worked for me.