Madhoo On Sexism In 90s Bollywood: “All The Heroines At That Time Were Typecast”

Madhoo, who is gearing up for the release of her upcoming film Shaakuntalam, recently in an interview opened up about sexism in the film industry and being typecast during the initial phase of her career (the 90s). Speaking to Pinkvilla, the 54-year-old actress also revealed that she decided to exit as she was not getting the kind of roles she was looking for despite featuring in the films like Roja, Yeshwant, Phool Aur Kaante and others. “Talking about sexism and typecasting, I was playing the heroine role so all the heroines at that time were typecast. We had some amazing songs to dance and sing to and then we had a few romantic scenes but I got lucky to do a few films like Yeshwant and Pechaan and even in my first film, Phool Aur Kaante,” Pinkvilla quoted Madhoo saying. 

“I played varied kinds of roles in different languages and have no complaints about the roles that came my way but yes, at one point towards the end of my career, I decided to exit, and that’s when I started to feel I wanted to do more but I was not getting that kind of roles,” Madhoo continued.

The actress added, “I was part of an era where action and action heroes were given the whole movie. They were all about action and revenge with Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Ajay Devgn on the rides. Having done films like Yodha, and Roja in the South, I wanted more like these movies to come my way here too, but it did not, and I found my life partner, so I decided to exit and have no regrets about that.” 

Meanwhile, on the work front, Madhoo will be next seen in Samantha Ruth Prabhu‘s Shaakuntalam. In the movie, Madhoo essays the role of Apsara Menaka. It is slated to release on April 14.