I am happy to see older actresses getting work: Lillete Dubey

Even at 69, Lillete Dubey is busier than ever, with films such as Blind and Yaariyaan 2, and a teleplay, Adhe Adhure ,in the works. The actor has trounced two age-old notions — female actors don’t get work after a certain age and senior actors don’t get much work. “I am very grateful to God that I keep getting work, because I am not asking for it [deliberately]. Luckily, projects keep coming along,” she says.

Dubey agrees that the advent of OTT in India has led to a boom as far as opportunities are concerned. “It changed the face of the game. People are not looking for stars anymore, they are looking for good actors. Also, a lot of work has come in, which has refined people’s tastes. They look for good performances and not necessarily big-budget Hindi films. OTT goes into places cinema never will,” says the actor.

She goes on to give examples of actors Pankaj Tripathi and Jaideep Ahlawat. “They suddenly came to the fore and people are enjoying their work. I am so happy to see older actresses getting work, too. There is space for them again,” shares the (2022) actor.

But with more work comes more competition, she points out: “There’s a lot of competition for the same roles now, as there are a lot more senior actors for the same part.”

While all this keeps her busy, her heart, she maintains, is in theatre. “I was in college when I watched Adhe Adhure for the first time. It featured actor Surekha Sikri. It was a brilliant script and I promised myself that when I have my own theatre company, I would do this play and would play the role myself,” Dubey ends.

Tadka NOTE TO READERS: Some of the coverage that appears on our pages is paid for by the concerned brands. No sponsored content does or shall appear in any part of HT without it being declared as such to our valued readers.