Female stars face more criticism , feels Richa

Richa Chadha, who is known to be vocal with her opinions, says she has observed how, at times, mainstream and social media tend to scrutinise female stars more than male stars. Although she was criticised by a section of the media in her initial days, she holds all her critics in high regard.

“Mainstream media as well as social media tends to be unfair towards female stars, and female stars get trolled and criticised more than their male counterparts. I can say this from my observation of the way media constantly questions Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Swara Bhaskar, Sonam Kapoor and other female stars for their choices — whether it is fashion, political opinion or lifestyle. Do they question the male stars enough as well?” Richa asked.

Citing examples of films that have released this year and earned commercial success, the “Fukrey” fame actress mentioned, “How many times has the media questioned male actors on films that are jingoistic and encourage warmongering? During the press conference of my film Section 375, I was asked about my opinion on the flood-affected areas. Do they ask these questions to the real people who actually can bring change — I mean the authorities and politicians?”

In Section 375, she plays the female lead and received a lot of positive reviews from the critics. However, in her initial days, she experienced both sides of media coverage but she learnt to handle everything gracefully.

On negative media coverage, Richa said, “I am very cordial with my critics because how they write about me is their prerogative. In my initial days, I have had press call me ugly. They called me names for my appearance in a film where I was not required to look glamorous. An article was written on me, titled ‘10 things that one hates about Richa Chadha’ by a publication. If a journalist tries to belittle me, I would rather grow a thick skin, instead of taking the negativity to my heart. There is a difference between critiquing and being mean to someone, and I know that,” she added.