PUTTING LADIES IN THE LEAD

Vidya Balan has been at the vanguard of a new wave of Hindi cinema that puts women first

- Suhani Singh

I dare say that there isn’t much happening in the male actor space,” says Vidya Balan. “It is a better time to be a female actor today. Look at the kind of female roles you get to see. Every actress is doing interesting work.” Balan is undoubtedly on point here. From Deepika Padukone in Gehraiyaan (2022) and Alia Bhatt in Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) to Taapsee Pannu in the upcoming Shabaash Mithu, the present ubiquity of female protagonists seems proof that more women are being given the parts they need to flex their acting muscles. Over the years, as Balan won acclaim for performances in films like The Dirty Picture (2011) and Tumhari Sulu (2017), she championed the cause of female-driven narratives. One might even say it was Balan who helped a small shift build into a sizeable wave.

Even though Balan doesn’t see herself as a torchbearer, she has certainly inspired a whole generation of actresses to seek parts that are worthy of their talent. For Pannu, Balan’s rise is proof “that [success] can happen despite being so unconventional”. She says, “Suddenly, the stories felt different, you had a female POV [point of view], the gaze was different. She isn’t your regular diva of Bollywood.”