A PART PLAYED WELL

Sushmita Sen shines in her portrayal of transgender activist Shreegauri Sawant in the JioCinema series Taali

- Poulomi Das

Three years ago, when Sushmita Sen signed on to headline the first season of Ram Madhvani's Aarya, she was stepping in front of the camera after five years. Playing a mother holding her family together in the wake of a family tragedy in her web series debut demanded that the actress tower over everyone else. Looking at the show, it would be hard to discern that the actor had been away for all these years-Sen turned in a career-defining performance as Aarya Sareen, straddling the varying facets of the female identity with clarity and conviction. At the time, Aarya felt like a long overdue course correction for the acting prowess of Sushmita Sen, an actor who has remained underutilised by Hindi cinema for decades.