Richa Chadha is known for never shying away from addressing industry stereotypes. In a recent interview, she criticised the one-dimensional portrayal of ‘progressive’ women in Bollywood films, often depicted as partygoers who smoke, drink, and frequent nightclubs. 

Richa Chadha calls out Bollywood stereotypes

Calling such characters “badly written,” Richa questioned whether filmmakers truly know women like these in real life. Speaking with Faye D’Souza, she expressed her frustration over the shallow representation of women in cinema and emphasized the need for more nuanced storytelling.

During the chat, Richa said, “They want to show you as a progressive woman- at least in 2010s-2012s- by smoking. Matlab cigarette jala liya, nightclub mein chale gaye hai. (You light up a cigarette, and then go to a nightclub). You have an existential crisis while looking very hot on the dance floor. Your mascara will run down and that’s when you have the existential crisis. The song is of course a chartbuster. I just find these characters so badly written. I want to ask those filmmakers: Do you know women like these? And how do you still know them when you are fifty and this is an early-twenties phenomenon at best. Then everyone gets their sh*t together.”

ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Calls Deepika Padukone’s Role As Padmavati Irrelevant: ‘Mujhe Padmaavat Bhi Offer…’

She added, “When they speak of sacrifice? Women already do enough. We make a little child from the calcium in our bones. They derive all the nutrients from your blood. Your hair falls out, your sleep goes for a toss. There’s enough sacrifice, we don’t need to do more than that. Society should make up for all that.”

Richa Chadha on ‘progressive’ women in Bollywood films

The video clip quickly went viral on Reddit, with many netizens supporting Richa Chadha’s views. One user speculated she was referring to Deepika Padukone’s character Veronica from ‘Cocktail’, while another wondered if it was about Priyanka Chopra’s role in ‘Fashion’.

“They show progressive women in films as someone who smokes, drinks and goes to the nightclubs.” – After Ratna P Shah Richa Chadha shares her views on portrayal of women.
byu/Only_Dragonfly_627 inBollyBlindsNGossip

Richa Chadha was last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, streaming on Netflix, alongside Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Taha Shah Badushaah.