Feel like an actor on film sets, not heroine: Madhoo

Mumbai: Actor Madhoo says she has moved on from the age-old thought process of being a heroine on film sets and embraced her role as a collaborator in the process of filmmaking.

Known for hit 1990s films such as Roja, Phool Aur Kaante, Yodha and Gentleman, the actor recently starred in the ZEE5 series Fireflies: Parth Aur Jugnu and Sweet Kaaram Coffee, a Prime Video show.

This is an amazing time to be an actor, said Madhoo, who will next be seen in psychological thriller film Kartam Bhugtam.

"Back in the day, I was a part of a culture where it was like 'I'm the hero, I'm the heroine'. But now, it doesn't feel like that...I have moved on from that thought process and that's something the (OTT) content has done for me. It feels like I'm an actor on the movie set... You just feel that we are all collaborative and making one story..." she told PTI.

The 55-year-old actor said, unlike the '90s, she no longer cares about being typecast in a certain role as she believes it's difficult to be stereotyped in the era of content boom.

"I used to think I would be typecast. But now I don't care because there is so much content. So, how many times will you cast me as a mother or grandmother of one type? Back in the day, when actors played the role of a mother, it used to be a (big deal) thing."

"Today, it's not about the length of the character, but its importance in a story. Those changes have definitely happened. That's why I'm happy to be (playing the role of) a mother," she added.

Madhoo said she has played so many mother roles in the South in the last few years, including films such as Shaakuntalam and Premadesam, that she has become the go-to actor to play the character of "young mother".

"There was an 'angry young man' tag for Amit (Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s) ji. I have a tag in the South. They come and say, 'Amma, it's a mother role, but a young mother'. I am a young mother," she said.

Directed by Soham P Shah, Kartam Bhugtam also stars Shreyas Talpade, Vijay Raaz, and Aksha Pardasany. It will hit the screens on May 17.