Shilpa Shetty Recalled Being Typecast In The ’90s: “Nobody Took Me Seriously”(Photo Credit –Facebook)
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Shilpa Shetty, one of Bollywood’s most iconic names, once opened up about her journey in the industry and how she transitioned from being typecast to finally being taken seriously as an actor.
In a conversation with Neha Dhupia on her chat show No Filter Neha (Via Miss Malini), Shilpa candidly spoke about being typecast in the industry and the film that changed her game. The actress shared, “Back in the 1990’s, I’ve to be honest, we were all typecast; either you were a very good actress, and you would get those kinds of films, or you would be typecast in those glamorous roles. And I was the latter, so nobody really took me seriously to offer me the main protagonist role.”
“The game changer for me was ‘Dhadkan,’ where Dharmesh (director) really stripped me of all that glamour that actually kept the glamour, but he wanted it all covered. So funny enough, he was the first to tell me that ‘I want you to look glamorous but in an Indian outfit.’ That changed the entire perspective of people, and that film went to become a huge hit, and then I did a lot of films after that where there were metier roles, but honestly, I didn’t care; for me, it was just work, and I was really young then,” she continued.
Shilpa then talked about the changing phase in the process of making a film. She said, “Today we are getting scripts where everything is elucidated on a paper; we didn’t have vanity vans, and we still went to work with a smile on our faces in the sun and wearing those chiffon sarees in the snow. So, we’ve done all of it and enjoyed all of it. So, today I feel we lead far more luxurious lives as actors; we are very, very pampered with an entourage of staff and managers. I love this phase as well; I feel very pampered and very important, but it was madness, and today, there’s a method to that madness.”
For those unversed, Shilpa Shetty marked her Bollywood debut in 1993 with the film Baazigar alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Looking back at her journey, she shared, “I was too young to think and know; I just feel today’s girls and boys in the industry are so sorted; they come to like all prepared, but for me, I was a 17-year-old when I was offered Baazigar. I just did it for luck and for some extra pocket money, and Venus signed me for three movies.”
“And I thought they would just do 1 and forget about it, and then Baazigar became a platinum jubilee hit, and after that, they signed me on for ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari,’ and again Chura Ke Dil Mera became a huge milestone for my career, and then ‘Dhadkan’ was third film. And now, I mean, 27 years down the line, I am doing ‘Hungama,’ which is not my comeback but another film with the same production company, who would have thought that I would last 27 years?” she concluded.
