‘MALE STARS ARE NOT QUESTIONED ENOUGH’
Negativity as an actor and as a female actor — Richa Chadha has dealt with both and has learnt the art of being thick-skinned
Actor Richa Chadha, who is known to be vocal with her opinions, says she has observed mainstream and social media tend to scrutinise female stars more than they do male stars.
“Media tend to be unfair towards female stars. They get trolled and criticised more than their male counterparts. I can say this from my observation of the way everyone constantly questions Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Swara Bhaskar, Sonam K Ahuja and other female stars for their choices — fashion, political opinions or lifestyle. Do they question the male stars enough as well?” she says.
Citing examples of films that have released this year and earned commercial success, the Fukrey (2013) actor adds, “How many times have people 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?” the 32-year-old adds.
For the recent Section 375, Richa earned plaudits for her role of a public prosecutor. Known for her performances in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and and Masaan (2015), Richa faced undue negativity at the start of career — often for things that had nothing to do with acting.
“In my initial days, I’ve had people 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’. If a person tries to belittle me, I’d rather grow a thick skin, instead of taking the negativity to my heart. There’s a difference between critiquing and being mean to someone, and I know that,” she says.
Over the past few years, Richa has also been subjected to trolling — like in 2016 for her comment on the commonality between herself and Pakistani actor Fawad Khan at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. However, she always gives it back to trolls.
Known for taking up experimental projects, Richa, gearing up for Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Panga, is in a productive phase right now. “I’ll continue experimenting and will be in a good space in the coming future, also because this is what wisdom and experiments teach you. These days actors get encouraged to do experimental work but I have been doing it since my early days,” says the actor, who played a grandmother in Gangs of Wasseypur at just 24.
Where does she draw inspiration to go ahead with experimentation? “There are women before me like Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, and Deepti Naval who have shown the courage of doing experimental films, and, of course, they are inspirational for us,” Richa concludes.
Everyone constantly questions female stars for their choices — whether it is fashion, political opinions or lifestyle. How many times have people questioned male actors on films that encourage warmongering? RICHA CHADHA ACTOR