JOIN USActor Richa Chadha says the Hindi film industry didn’t consider her good looking because of her skin colour and body type.
“For the longest time, for most of the industry, I was not good looking. I was
good looking only for my mom and dad, because I was dusky. I didn’t have a model-like figure.”
The actor was speaking at the session ‘Breaking the glass ceiling of misogyny in Indian media and entertainment’ at the 18th edition of FICCI Frames recently. The session was moderated by filmmaker Imtiaz Ali.
Asked if there is a difference between the approach of male and female directors, Richa says her myth burst soon while working with Mira Nair.
“My third big job in life was to work with Mira Nair to assist in a short film, which hasn’t been released yet. I observed how she walked into the set and commended respect without ever raising her voice.
“It was a bustling crew which would often fall silent, not out of fear but respect. I saw this woman director, who could be my friend, could also be maternal towards me and I learnt so much from that. It’s fun to work with good director, irrespective of gender.”