Actor Lara Dutta wowed the audience with her acting chops and transformation into the role of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Bell Bottom. Lara has been taking up challenging characters in web shows and pushing her boundaries, proving that actors of her age can do versatile roles too. In a recent interview, Lara admitted that she is finally playing the kind of characters that she ‘always wanted to portray’ as an actor. She stated that the cohort of women, between the age of 35-55 has never been addressed in the industry and it is always said that nothing substantiate is made on them. According to the actor, all women have to portray is either a ‘long-sacrificing mother’ or a ‘husband-adoring wife’.
Lara told Gulf News that her age has liberated her. The former Miss Universe said that as she comes into her 40s, she is finally doing age-appropriate roles and is essaying the kind of characters she has always wanted to portray. Lara shared that she has never walked into the industry with a desire of being the leading lady or the hero, instead, she wanted to be an actor, and she believes that now such roles are being written.
Recalling the roles which women had to portray on the big screen or in daily soaps, Lara said that either you play that long-sacrificing mother or that pati-vrata (husband-adoring wife) lady. “At some point when I entered my 30s, I just got tired of playing the same kind of characters.” However, Lara believes that the sabbatical, when her daughter was born, was a blessing in disguise. The actor considers herself extremely lucky as she is getting the opportunity, which her predecessor could not get as such roles never existed back then.
On the work front, Lara has a new web show titled Kaun Banegi Shikharwati in works. The web show also stars Naseeruddin Shah, Soha Ali Khan, Anya Singh, Raghubir Yadav, Kritika Kamra, Cyrus Sahukar and Varun Thakur.
