YOUNG WOMEN ARE PLAYING MOTHERS, SAYS POOJA

Men in India don’t age, while women younger than them are playing mothers, says the actor-director

ctor-director Pooja Bhatt believes women start blooming in their forties, but somehow they are not represented correctly on the screen whereas men continue to play characters half their age. Pooja, who is returning to the silver screen after a gap of 18 years with Sadak 2, had said goodbye to acting but then it pulled her back.

“I had said bye-bye to acting in a way but once an actor always an actor. Life has got other plans for me. Like I did not want to be an actor, I wanted to be an architect or astronaut and Daddy happened and the rest is history. I felt I was happy being in the back, launching people like Sunny Leone, repackaging Richa Chadda, John Abraham but life had other plans and it includes Sadak 2 and a web series,” Pooja said.

Known for her films such as Daddy, Sadak

Aand Zakhm, Pooja will reprise her role in the sequel of Sadak, that marks the return of her filmmaker father Mahesh Bhatt to direction. Pooja, whose last film as an actor was Everybody

Says I’m Fine in 2001, will also be seen in a web series based on Abheek Barua’s book called A

City of Death. Set in Kolkata, the story revolves around an alcoholic female cop in her 40s, who is sent to investigate a crime of passion.

In Sadak 2, Sanjay Dutt and Pooja will be seen playing the older couple while Pooja’s younger sister Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur are the young pair. “I am glad when I am coming back to acting I am getting to play my age,” Pooja said.

“One thing I do not see happening is women of certain age being represented correctly. We have to evolve conceptually. Men don’t age in India. Women who are younger then them are suddenly playing the role of a mother,” she said.

The actor said she also played the role of Ajay Devgn’s mother in 1999 film Zakhm because the role demanded it but she would not play the role of a mother just for the sake of it. As an actor and producer, Pooja said she has always taken risks. “One woman who I think is great is Vidya Balan, her casting in The

Dirty Picture was very exciting. Let’s break new grounds, let’s think beyond the usual. Why can’t a woman who plays a mother, also play a lover, or why a lover can’t play a villain?”

Citing the example of American actor-producer Sharon Stone, Pooja, 46, said why can’t writers write about women beyond a certain age. “Where is India’s Sharon Stone? How come women in Hollywood come to their own, post their 40s? I feel that’s when you actually bloom... Why are men allowed to come to their own at 40s and 50s and women are expected to bury themselves at this age,” she added.