Richa Chadha recalls the time she was offered to play the mother of Hrithik Roshan; says, “I was just 21 years old” 21 : Bollywood News

Richa Chadha is known to speak from her heart and she has often opened up about relevant topics. In a recent interaction, the actress recalled an incident which left her appalled as one of the casting agent offered her role of a mother to Hrithik Roshan, who is much older to her, in her early 20s. Addressing the subject of sexism, the actress revealed that while it is unfair to ask a woman age so much onscreen, it is also unfair towards older women who are already facing a dearth of roles in Hindi cinema.

Richa Chadha recalls the time she was offered to play the mother of Hrithik Roshan; says, “I was just 21 years old”

In an interview with ABP Live, Richa Chadha opened up about the time when she was offered to play the role of a superstar, who was also older to her. Expressing that she was extremely angry at the casting director, Richa added, “I was 21 years old. But someone had told him that I play the role of older women nicely. So without thinking, he just offered me the role. Later, the actor who actually played that part is a very good artist. So I felt that this is wrong that you are taking young and attractive actors and ageing them.”

In the same breath, the actress also touched upon the subject of sexism in Hindi cinema, as she continued, “Not only are you doing a disservice to a young actor, you are also taking away an older actor’s part which is already shrinking. To usool ke hisaab se bhi maine mana kia tha. Baaki uss casting director ne mujhe kabhi bulaya nahi wo alag baat hai (I had also spoken up because it was a matter of principles. And after that, the casting director never called me, otherwise).”

Richa did mention that she played an older woman in Gangs of Wasseypur but, she also reasoned that she decided to take up the part because she was not singled out in the film and that every actor had to age in the action drama. “In Gangs of Wasseypur, I never felt that I would be singled out. Everyone’s story was 30-40 years ahead. They didn’t put any spotlight on me. Call it our industry’s sexism or society’s sexism, they highlighted it. The truth is that Manoj Bajpayee, Huma Qureshi, Piyush Mishra, all of them had undergone ageing in that film.”

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