While we constantly talk about women empowerment in Bollywood, the fact, that sometimes actresses face the prejudice of a 'limited career' once they get married, doesn't surprise anyone anymore. Actress Yami Gautam, who married filmmaker Aditya Dhar in June this year, accepts that female artists might have experienced this at some point but so far, she has not lost out on any movie offer because of her marital status.
Gautam, who has a strong line of upcoming film, which include 'Lost', 'A Thursday' , 'Dasvi' and 'OMG 2', talks about how perceptions around an actress's career is changing.
Talking about the reservations around an actress's career graph, Gautam tells us, "I am sure that there must be certain incidents or certain times when once you are married, especially for actresses, there is limited time and people say that 'this is the time you have and then the perception changes' or 'your audience that adores you experience a shift after you get married'. I am talking for the majority and not with certain exceptions. There is a certain perception when it comes to this industry (Bollywood). It must be true for the majority of the part in our industry but again I think one of the most positive changes are happening right now."
Gautam, who made her film debut with 2012 release 'Vicky Donor', compares actresses in Hollywood and how they don't have to ever think about their career graph if they get married.
"In the West, I don't think they bother about age, age group or if they have a child onscreen. There are such phenomenal actresses who have just been working and working and giving some of the most stunning and inspiring performances because they are free from any fear, any inhibition, any shackle , perspective or thinking that 'oh this is something that I can't do even if I want to'," she says.
The actress, who hails from Chandigarh believes that a change in perception within the Hindi film industry is happening and credit many of her peers for that.
"Gladly I would say that there is a shift and I would definitely give credit to my seniors also for that. You have Kareena Kapoor Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone, Vidya Balan and many others. I think they are working more than ever.I am talking about just the marriage spectrum. I think they doing phenomenal jobs. Because there is a shift in expectation also," she says.
Coming to her career, the actress is on an all time high and feels more confident than ever.
"For me, I think this is the most exciting phase for me in my career, I feel more confident than ever. I feel like I am making my debut, that is how new I feel. There is no dearth of any opportunity. If I feel that there is a role that I have missed out because I got married then probably it was not worth it."
She adds, "Nothing of that sort has happened to me because what I am looking for, the kind of expectation I have not just from audience but even from myself, is that the role has to be of substance. It can be an out and out commercial film too but you got to do something that has some meaning to it, some impact that you have and you are pivotal to the story. I am looking for versatility, for opportunity and exploring myself from a new and fresher perspective, so I don't think this stands true today."
