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Divya Dutta: Earlier, the roles written for women were till the age of 25, or above 50s, middle age ke roles hi nahi the

Actor Divya Dutta gets talking about how earlier female actors were only ‘heroine, mummy ya bhabhi’ in films.

Updated on: Sep 26, 2023, 20:15:48 IST
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She turned 46 recently, but she still feels like a child at heart. But apart from this, what Divya Dutta is glad about, is that the film industry today has work for female actors across all age groups. It's not just the 'girlfriend or saas-bahu' roles, as was the norm when she started off.

Actor Divya Dutta was recently invited to the Parliament.
Actor Divya Dutta was recently invited to the Parliament.

"Earlier a female actor was given five things- she could be the heroine, vamp, and so on. There were designated roles, and anything beyond that, nobody knew where to put them. Today, if you are not opposite the hero, it doesn't matter, you are still a heroine if it's an important role. That line has diminished," says the actor, who is busy with a slate of four films and three web shows currently, all waiting to be announced.

Dutta feels that people are "taking risks", like she did when she took the role of Preity Zinta's character's helper in Veer Zaara. "I did think 'oh God will it be a huge risk' to play such a role, but everyone spoke so much about it, same was the case with Delhi 6. Everyone is now asking 'hamare liye karne ko kya hai role mein' Earlier, makers were less than willing to explore layers... it was wither till the age of 25, or beyond 50s, beech ki age ke roles the hi nahi. Ya toh heroine, ya mummy, ya bhabhi. Now you see the top most actresses married, with kids, doing supremely well. People don't bother about it, they are not judgmental," she shares.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rishabh Suri

Rishabh Suri is an Assistant Editor, film critic, and professional overthinker of plot points. He writes for HT City, keeping pace with an industry where news cycles expire long before the popcorn gets cold. He completed his graduation in English Honours from Kirori Mal College, followed by a Master’s degree in English Literature-effectively training his brain to over-analyse classic texts before applying those exact same skills to 3-hour Bollywood blockbusters. He got into the profession when he had barely graduated from college and has been at HT ever since. At HT, Rishabh reviews films with a simple rule: skip the dense academic jargon and get straight to the point. Beyond reviews, as Assistant Editor, he helps navigate the broader circus of showbiz, tracking everything from OTT shifts to sudden box office panics. In a beat driven by loud PR machinery and carefully scripted answers, Rishabh prefers cutting through the noise to focus on how stories get made and why trends shift. When he isn’t writing against a deadline, he is usually sitting in a dark theater, compulsively memorising dialogues. For Rishabh, analysing movies isn't just a day job- it’s a habit he couldn't turn off even if he tried.

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