HOW RICHA SHATTERED STEREOTYPES

Richa Chadha’s last release, Fukrey 2 did exceptionally well at the box office. While her journey until now has been memorable, Richa says that she had a lot of stereotypes to shatter along the way. In fact, after making her debut in Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye (2008), Richa had almost given up on her acting career as she didn’t get any great offers. However, Gangs of Wasseypuer (GOW; 2012) was a sort of a breakthrough for her. But it also had its drawbacks, she says.

“I was 21 and at that young age, when you feel like nothing is happening in one way, then you feel like you have 20 other talents that you can exploit. After GOW, I thought my career was over. When I went to the first function after the film released — everyone was like, ‘oh, we thought you were really old. We thought you wouldn’t know how to speak English’. This was because I played Nawazuddin’s mother. I had to fight very hard to break that image. I went out of my way to look glamorous. Even if sometimes, I made fashion faux pas, I was desperate to show to people that I am a normal girl, who had a normal childhood. A lot of people initially instantly rejected me by saying that ‘you should be in kurtas, wear khadi, talk in a certain way’. This is also because people have a perception of how actors who choose alternative films dress. This is not a notion I ascribed to.”

Around 2015, the tide changed for her and she decided that she wouldn’t do things to fit in anymore. “I think around the time that Masaan (2015) happened to me, I had gained confidence. I was more like ‘take it or leave it’ because I am not going to try and fit in. I came of age with that film. I was a nervous wreck before that. I am not ashamed to admit that. I didn’t have advisors, I didn’t have any millionaire boyfriend to egg me on or produce films, and I wouldn’t get invited to parties barring a few people. It has definitely been a journey”, she says.

After GOW, I thought my career was over. When I went to the first function after the film released — everyone was like, ‘oh, we thought you were really old. We thought you wouldn’t know how to speak English’. RICHA CHADHA, ACTOR