Actor Rajshri Deshpande, known for her performance in OTT shows like “Trial by Fire” and “Sacred Games”, says there is a need to imagine women in interesting and diverse characters but it is not happening the way it is for male actors.
Deshpande said there is no fun in doing the same stuff.
"I need to get an exciting offer to do a film. I’m waiting for interesting women characters to be written in Hindi cinema but it’s difficult to find one. There are some brilliant actresses here, and what we need is a role that challenges us," the actor told PTI in an interview.
"I was offered the role of a 60-year-old grieving mother similar to my part in ‘Trial by Fire’ by a big director. I said no, I was like ‘You’ve to see me differently’,” Deshpande, who has acted in films like “Angry Indian Goddesses ","Manto ","Choked ", and “Joram”, said.
She pointed out that despite the wealth of talent among female actors, cinema still leans heavily towards men.
"I feel that men are still getting that kind of chance, be it Rajkummar Rao, Vijay (Varma), and Gulshan (Devaiah). They are from our space but they get more interesting work. Men-driven stories are being written. We’ve such wonderful actresses and everyone should do well because we’ve come with so much hunger, the idea is to create space for ourselves,” she said.
Deshpande, who was also seen in supporting parts in “Mom”, and “The Sky is Pink”, said there’s a growing need for producers who can calculate certain things and make things work for independent cinema.
“I’ve worked in advertising for a couple of years, I feel if you strategize things then you sell everything and anything. Similarly, use strategy for it (independent cinema), make it work, push it more, and sell something saleable. We need more empathetic producers who can bring a change on the ground level.” Stating that she wants to do all kinds of movies, Deshpande said she doesn’t want to “bind” herself to a particular kind of cinema.
“I want to be part of every genre and entertain people differently. Today, it is about having more followers, who’s more on the red carpet, who’s wearing what, and who is more seen by the paparazzi. So, it’s a different kind of space, but I’m glad that there are people who follow cinema and watch our work,” she said.
The actor was speaking on the sidelines of Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films, at the ongoing Mumbai Academy of Moving Image’s (MAMI) Mumbai Film Festival.
Deshpande was on the jury of short films and she said it was a “difficult” job to analyse every film and see which one is better.
“There were more than 100 movies but every story was different. I would have seen 12 to 14 films. They were all from various parts of India, there were stories about life, innocence, magic realism, and diverse communities among others. For me, there has to be a soul in a story, I don’t want to see beautiful images.” Deshpande will next be seen in an OTT show opposite Vineet Kumar Singh of “Mukkabaaz”.
“I’ve done a show called ‘Rangeen’, it is an interesting husband-wife relationship drama. It might come in two months or so. Right now, editing is underway,” she said.
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