Do Bollywood actors get typecast after a certain role? Celebs open up on it
It is both a positive and negative aspect of stardom that the actor gets recognised by and identified with the roles he or she plays on screen. Shubh Mangal Savdhan actress Bhumi Pednekar recently spoke about how people mistakenly assume actors’ lives are like the work they do. The actress — who rose to stardom right from her first film Dum Laga ke Haisha — says that doing roles of a simple girl (read “village girl”) doesn’t mean that she is the same in real life.
How baffling, frustrating or amusing is it for actors to be identified not as their individual selves but by the roles they have played on screen?
Actor Yashpal Sharma, who is popular for the role of Sunder Yadav in Prakash Jha’s Gangaajal, admits that many people are scared of him because of that role. “I was offered similar roles after that but decided to opt for less violent roles because I didn’t want to be someone who scares people,” he said, adding that the chances of actors being typecast are less if they keep surprising the audience with new roles on screen.
Agrees TV actor Saumya Tandon, who is popular for her role in the show Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai! “Public memory is very short. Vidya Balan, for instance, began with Hum Paanch but no one remembers that about her anymore,” she says.
About her role in Bhabhi Ji, she adds, “Whenever I meet fans, many say that they want a bahu like me. While I take it as a compliment, I find it funny that people would think that I am Anita in real life too. So, I always try to do different kinds of roles to evolve as an actor.”
However, for Masaan actress Shweta Tripathi, being typecast is a good thing. “People like to label actors. It is our responsibility to surprise them. But I really enjoy when people call me by my character name,” Shweta says.
