‘Women no longer playing victims’

Madhuri Dixit welcomes diversity in B-town

MUMBAI: Bollywood’s favourite dancing diva Madhuri Dixit has stated that female actors are no longer limited to playing roles of the victims or avengers. The actor — who was last seen in 2013’s Gulaab Gang, a film inspired by female activists in Bundelkhand — spoke of empowerment within the Indian film industry.

“It is very interesting to see the kind of roles that are being written for women now,” Dixit said. “They are no longer just victims or avengers; they are different characters with different roles in society and that is wonderful. Women are not just eye candy and they are not perceived in any particular way anymore,” she added.

Dixit went on to reminisce about her own journey through Bollywood and how, back then, there would hardly be any women present on film sets. “When I started out, the only women you saw on the set were the heroine, the hair dresser and maybe a costume designer,” she recalled. “Today, when I walk in, the sets are bustling with women! They are assistant directors, camera operators, script writers and directors… they are playing so many roles.”



For Dixit, this has been a very good change indeed. But when asked if she was specifically looking for women-centric films for her future projects, she replied in the negative. “No, I am not specifically looking at portraying such roles or working on women-centric films. It just so happened that I signed such projects,” she explained, at the launch of dance show So You Think You Can Dance — Ab India Ki Baari. She was referring to her previous films like Abodh, Lajja, Devdas and Gulaab Gang, all of which had strong female characters. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd,  2016.

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