It has been a long and windy road for female artists in Indian cinema to create a space for themselves beyond just the “hero’s love interest.”
The advent of OTT has certainly given a new lease of life to artists, whose forte simply lies in presenting their art on celluloid, and not in the vanity that has been ingrained in our mainstream cinema over decades.
Neena Gupta, who was recently seen in Amazon Prime’s ‘Panchayat 2’ – is one such talent.
The actress, much like other female artists of her age, faced neglect up until she garnered nation-wide praise for her starring role in 2018’s Badhai Ho.
Keeping herself busy with shows and films in her kitty now, the actress recently revealed that there was once a point she envied and felt jealous of Indian cinema’s celebrated actress – Shabana Aazmi.
It was becauase, Shabana was at the front and center of Indian cinema’s Parallel Wave movement, which featured a ton of empowering role for female artists, many of which were grabbed by Shabana herself.
While speaking to a news portal, Neena recently revealed:
“Long time back, I used to be jealous of Shabana Azmi because she used to get all the nice parts. There were many other actresses also. Sometimes I was told that we are doing this role but was thrown out from it.”
The point doesn’t seem too far-fetched since Shabana was indeed in majority of the popular parallel wave films of that time, alongside her contemporary – Smita Patil.
Thankfully, in the present day and age – with no dearth of experimental filmmakers – who don’t necessarily desire to chase ‘the bling’, there’s a constant rise in the need for talents like Nina.
Notwithstanding the age or gender, the number of opportunities for great talents these days – make it the most exciting time Indian cinema has perhaps ever had. Although there’s still a long way to go.
May be, Neena Gupta can find some solace in that.