Interview: Ameesha Patel
By: Simran Mody, Indian Correspondent
Now a full decade into her Bollywood career, Hindi film star Ameesha Patel has come a long way since debuting in Kahn Naa … Pyaar Hai in 2000 and earning a Filmfare award one year later in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. Despite a career slump almost immediately after she made a big bang, Ameesha, who is married to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, is now back on track as a leading lady of Bollywood. The acclaimed actress spent some time chatting with the media this week, delving into her decade-long acting career and chiming in on the state of women in Indian cinema.
“There have been ups and downs — I’ve been sad sometimes and on a high at other times, but it has been fabulously exciting and it feels great to be a part of this industry,” the actress said to the press about her career so far. “I have had great films like Kaho Naa Pyar Hai, Gadar, Humraaz, Mangal Pandey, Bhool Bhulaiya, and Honeymoon Travels. Like with anything in life, you sometimes wonder, what if you had done something else? But this was my destiny. I was meant to be here and I am looking forward to seeing what more is in store for me.”
Satisfied as she may be about her career development, Ameesha told the press that she believes women as a whole still have work to do to improve their standing in Bollywood.
“Bollywood is still male-dominated,” she observed to the media. “It gets more technically sound, and the women’s clothes and the styles change, but there are still no tailor-made roles for women. It’s just old wine in a new bottle.”
Still, despite the struggles presented for female actors and the work that needs to be done, Ameesha was quick to point out that she never really had a gender-centric theme in pursuing a career as a leading thespian. Quite the contrary, Ameesha was proverbially “discovered.”
“I never tried to come into the industry on purpose,” she stated. “I did not do a screen test, I did not have a portfolio. I was offered Kaho Na Pyar Hai because I was spotted at a wedding and Rakesh Roshan knew my father. But it is very hard for a woman, for sure, even after you are successful.”
As tough as it may be for women to stay a step ahead in Hindi cinema, Ameesha still believes she has done her part in being a positive role model for women who are following in her footsteps. In looking at her body of work, she observed that many of her films could be deemed as memorably influential.
“All the roles that I have done have been quite powerful. Kaho Na … was a central role; Gadar was a very, very special film, and so was Bhool Bhulaiya,” she observed. “Honeymoon Travels showed a funny, cute side to me that the audiences hadn’t seen before, and Thoda Pyaar … was absolutely different from what I had ever done. I think all of them have a little bit of me.”
Personal roles aside, Ameesha made another weighted observation about women in Bollywood. Despite the efforts female actresses must make to succeed in Hindi cinema, the actress opined that gender empowerment is more mental-based than it is outwardly based.
“I think being femininity is a state of mind. I don’t think it is about wearing nice clothes,” she stated to the press. “As today’s girls, we all wear jeans and shorts; we almost dress like boys, but we can still be feminine. Feminism is a state of mind.”
She went so far as to even say that feminism is all about friendship and sisterhood. After all, why should women go tackling Bollywood solo? she says.
“A woman understands another woman like nobody else,” she emphatically told the press. “I have women friends who are inseparable, constantly on the phone with each other from the time we wake up. We can sense each other’s feelings from the tone of the voice.”
Perhaps one day, in the not-too-distant future, another successful actress will sit down with the press and observe how much she understood the struggles of those actresses before her, as it is only a matter of time before Indian cinema is less male-dominated and operates more as a fair and egalitarian industry.
