Madhoo on sexism in films, why she decided to quit: ‘All the heroines at that time were typecast’

Madhoo Shah, who has worked in films such as Mani Ratnam’s Roja (1992), will be seen next in Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Shaakuntalam. In a recent interview, Madhoo spoke about taking a long sabbatical from acting, witnessing sexism and typecasting during the initial phase of her career, and her comeback to films. Madhoo is married to businessman Anand Shah and they have two daughters. Also read: Madhoo says ‘you can be of any age or shape and yet find a place on OTT’

Madhoo said at one point towards the end of her acting career, she had started feeling she was not getting that kind of roles she was looking for. Madhoo also praised Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and other actors today for ‘completely transforming the status of heroines in the industry’.

When asked if she faced sexism or felt typecast during the initial phase of her career, Madhoo told Pinkvilla, “Talking about sexism and typecasting, I was playing the heroine role so all the heroines at that time were typecast. We had some amazing songs to dance and sing to and then we had a few romantic scenes but I got lucky to do a few films like Yeshwant and Pechaan and even in my first film, Phool Aur Kaante. I played varied kinds of roles in different languages and have no complaints about the roles that came my way but yes, at one point towards the end of my career, I decided to exit, and that’s when I started to feel I wanted to do more but I was not getting that kind of roles.”

Madhoo spoke about Roja, and how she wanted to work in such movies, but they would not come her way. She said, “I was part of an era where action and action heroes were given the whole movie. They were all about action and revenge with Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Ajay Devgn on the rides. Having done films like Yodha, and Roja in the south, I wanted more like these movies to come my way here too, but it did not, and I found my life partner, so I decided to exit and have no regrets about that.”

Madhoo will be seen as Apsara Menaka in Shaakuntalam, which also stars Dev Mohan, Gautami, Madhoo, Aditi Balan and Allu Arjun’s daughter Allu Arha. The Gunasekhar-directed film, which is based on poet Kalidasa’s play Abhijnanashakuntalam, will be released in theatres this Friday.