Vidya Balan explains why ‘it’s a better time to be a female actor’; Shefali Shah agrees

Vidya Balan has said that being a female actor in today’s time is better than being a male actor. Shefali Shah, who will be seen alongside Vidya in their upcoming movie Jalsa, agreed with her. Shefali and Vidya are the leading actors in the upcoming investigation thriller film, which also stars Rohini Hattangadi, Manav Kaul, Mohammed Iqbal Khan, and more. Also Read| Jalsa trailer: Vidya Balan is with Shefali Shah in her fight for justice, but no one can be trusted here. Watch

Vidya and Shefali said that while the female actors have been getting a chance to explore diverse characters, the male actors are largely getting unidimensional roles.

Vidya told Film Companion, “For the first time, it’s a better time to be a female actor than a male actor. The variety in the way the roles are written is far more exciting than what’s happening in the male actor’s space, which is still…they have not…I don’t know…it’s all still a certain type.” When interviewer Anupama Chopra asked if Vidya means the male actors are still in service to the hero, the actor said, “Hero…yeah. whereas we are playing the ordinary, and it can’t be said enough that the extraordinary emerges from the ordinary. So there are so many more stories to tell, and there are so many aspects that we (women actors) are exploring. Whereas I feel, and with no disrespect, I do feel the male actor’s space is largely unidimensional.”

Shefali added, “OTT has given us a chance to explore, express, and experiment, which is great, which is so good.” Meanwhile, Vidya also spoke about the assumption that her marriage to film producer Siddharth Roy Kapur makes things easier for her in the film industry. She said, “I don’t want anyone to reduce my achievements to saying ‘this happened for you because of your husband.’ Because one has worked very hard to get here, and um you know as much as I love him, I don’t want that to happen for either of us, because people say ‘arey aapka to production house hai na (you have a production house right)’, and I say ‘mere pati ka hai, mera nahi hai, farq hai (It’s my husband’s, not mine, there’s a difference.'” Shefali, who is married to film producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, added, “They don’t understand it.”

Shefali and Vidya’s movie Jalsa, directed by Suresh Triveni, will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on March 18. It stars Vidya Balan as a celebrated journalist and Shefali Shah as her cook, whose daughter gets killed in a hit-and-run accident.