Nudity, cuss words force Zarina Wahab to walk out walk out midway through an OTT watch

When seasoned actor Zarina Wahab was offered a role in the upcoming web series Showstopper, that deals with lingerie fitting, the veteran actor admits she was hesitant initially. “You know how it is when you hear bras ke baare me bana rahe hain show. But then I heard the whole narration and the story was very convincing,” says the actor, adding, “So many women work in the lingerie companies and it’s normal to talk about an issue as important as the one shown in the series. It talks about how the right fitting can prevent problems such as cancer. There is no nudity in my role or the series and it’s beautiful.”

While the 63-year-old overcame her initial reservations for the show, she maintains that nudity and profanity on OTT mediums, especially with no censorship for the format, is something that makes her very uncomfortable.

“Aisa kuch scenes aate hain toh main uth kar chali jaati hoon. Hum miya-biwi band hi kar dete hain. We do not appreciate it. Accha nahi lagta dekhte hue jab bahut gandi gaaliyaan aa jati hain,” she explains.

Wahab accepts the fact that time has changed and so is the way of making films and shows. She says, “OTT ki wajah se nudity bahut aagai hai. They show a lot of sexual scenes. I don’t know to what extent we want to follow the west. But it’s the world of the new generation now and it’s up to them. If they don’t have a problem with it, it’s alright. At the end of the day, it’s completely an individual’s choice to watch it or switch it off- remote is in everyone’s hands.”

While many argue that it’s need of the hour as people want to watch realistic content, Wahab points out how entertaining films were made before mobile phones became so common. “I don’t think nudity is ‘needed’. A lot changed after mobile phones made the access to all kinds of content so easy. Before that, films bhi aise banti thi jise aap family ke saath dekh sakein and they were blockbusters. Ab log bolte hain, ‘Acchi cheezein nahi banti. Pehle jaisi films nahi banti’, par jab kuch accha banta hai toh jaata kaun hai dekhne? Pehle jaisi films banne ke liye pehle jaisi mentality hi nahi hai logo ke paas. Now, what matters is how much the film will make and how successful it will become. Pehle awards ke liye logo films banaate the, wo theek tha,” she tells us.

But no matter how much the world changes, Wahab does not want to change with it. “I would never be comfortable doing such roles. Moreover, I do not think I am in an age where they will offer me something of that sort. But even if I had been younger, I don’t think I would have taken up a role like that,” Wahab concludes.