Yami Gautam: Films had two moulds for women: good and bad

Proud to be part of Bala, Yami Gautam says Hindi cinema is finally moving past the stereotypical heroine.

Bollywood is far from a level-playing field. Yami Gautam, who is currently promoting Bala, brings out a facet of the discrimination prevalent in the industry. The actor argues that Hindi cinema has a tendency to stereotype female actors.

"The pre-requisite relies on a set standard of beauty. For the longest time, movies used to promote a stereotypical version of women, who would fit into two broad moulds - good and bad. The emphasis was never on authenticity. The characters were painted in broad strokes, which is why a script like Bala appealed to me," says Gautam, who plays a small-town TikTok star. The Amar Kaushik-directed movie also touches on India’s obsession with fair-skinned women, through Bhumi Pednekar’s character. "Such women characters haven’t been represented on screen before. These roles have an aspirational value attached to them, and yet, they are real."

A still from Bala

Be it her act of someone who walked out of her marriage in Vicky Donor (2012) or an undercover agent in Uri: The Surgical Strike, Gautam saus she had tried to bring strong-minded women on screen via her choices of roles. The credit, she says, goes to the writers. "Writers are now moving away from pigeonholing women. It reflects in the roles offered to us."

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