Sushmita Sen says her manager ‘ran away’ after she adopted daughter Renee: ‘Character roles bhi nahi milenge’

In a recent interview, actor Sushmita Sen reflected on the resistance she faced from the industry after deciding to adopt a child at 24.

Actor Sushmita Sen became a single mother at the age of 24 when she adopted her elder daughter, Renee Sen, in 2000. However, her decision faced significant resistance within the industry. She recalled that her manager even chose to stop representing her, warning that she would no longer get even character roles after becoming a mother.

Sushmita Sen reveals

Sushmita Sen adopted her elder daughter, Renee Sen, in 2000.

During an interview with NDTV, Sushmita reflected on the resistance she faced from the industry after deciding to adopt a child.

Looking back at an incident, Sushmita said, “My manager ran away. He said, 'You're not serious about your career, and I can't represent someone who's a mother at 24. Character roles bhi nahi milenge aapko (You won’t even get character roles).' He ran away, and I was like, good riddance to bad rubbish. I was quite okay with it. And you won't believe it - after I became a mother, I gave my biggest hits.”

The actor added that most of the resistance came from other women, although she believes things are gradually changing now.

She shared, “But what it did take was to say, these are the rules - you take them, or you leave them. And my thing was, I'm a self-made woman. I don't have godfathers. Nobody gave me a platform. I did everything on my own. So your rules don't apply to me. My rules apply to me. So my rule says, this is what I want to do. I want to be a young mother. And I do not want to be incapacitated in any way so as to be able to look after this child and give this child the best childhood possible. And so that was the time, and it worked out, thankfully. It took a lot, but it did work out.”

Sushmita, who won Miss Universe in 1994, became a single mother at 24. She adopted her elder daughter, Renee Sen, in 2000. She adopted her younger daughter, Alisah, in 2010. Renee made her acting debut with a short film in 2021.

Sushmita Sen made a comeback with her digital debut web series, Aarya in 2020 after a long break from acting. The show streamed on Disney+ Hotstar. In the show, Sushmita plays a woman who goes beyond boundaries to protect her family from the world of crime. The first season was even nominated for Best Drama Series at the International Emmy Awards. After Aarya, Sushmita was also seen in Taali, in which she played transgender activist Gauri Sawant.