Urmila Matondkar was one of the most successful female leads of the 1990s, but she faded away after hitting her 30s. The Rangeela actor married Kashmiri businessman Mohsin Akhtar Mir, before starting her political journey.
However, in a recent interview with The Times of India, Urmila said that she was not given enough credit for the success of Rangeela, adding that her contribution was relegated to merely being a sex symbol. Urmila said that “appearing sexy also needs acting”.
“Is doing a tear-jerking scene the only acting?” she asked. The actor added that even after Rangeela was a hit, critics did not praise her acting. She said that whatever she did in the movie was relegated to her sex appeal and not acting.
Tearing into her critics, Urmila said that a song like ‘Hai Rama’ cannot be a success without a capable performer. “I was not Miss Nothing in the film. My character of girl-next-door gets changed with every song of the film, which the critics could not understand,” she said.
She said that although Rangeela was a huge hit, she got nothing out of it. Instead, she said all credit was given to her hairstyle and clothes.
Urmila said that “actresses who were asked to look like men and did double meaning songs with heroes were called actresses.”
Being in front of the camera was a spiritual experience for her, she said.
Urmila has acted in acclaimed movies such as Kaun wherein she played a psycho killer, Satya, Bhoot and Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara.
She started her career with the movie Karm as a child artiste. She then went on to do Marathi and South movies along with Bollywood.
A few years ago, she made her foray into politics by joining the Indian National Congress but quit the party soon after the 2019 election results.
