Richa Chadda: It's wonderful coming back to Lucknow

While on a visit to the city, Richa Chadha talks about how she's trying out a variety of roles in Bollywood movies.
Born and brought up in Delhi, actor Richa Chadha faced a fair amount of opposition from her parents when joining the film industry . 'Heroine banogi?' they asked, aghast at my decision,“ the actor told us on her recent visit to the city to inaugurate the Indian Gramin Cricket League.
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But having done a fair amount of TV commercials and theatre, Chadha could manage to convince her parents and went on to do the film Oye Lucky Lucky Oyewith Abhay Deol. The rest, as they say , is history.
`I DON'T THINK I CAN BE SLOTTED AS ANY PARTICULAR TYPE'
Richa is known for playing strong characters in films. Does that pose a problem for her in bagging diverse projects?
“Yes, I played a rustic woman in Gangs Of Wasseypur and a lady don in Fukrey, but then, I also have a Ramleela to my credit, in which my character was utterly feminine. So, I don't think I can be slotted as any particular type. Also, I am very conscious about not repeating my roles. I don't want to play a second lead all my life. I want to grow as an actor, I want to experiment with different emotions, different characters and know my strengths and weaknesses as an actor. And I have no regrets. At the end of the day I am doing what I believe in, what I like. And as an actor, it's very important to do what you like or else it shows in your work. The camera doesn't lie. The moment you enact a scene unconvincingly , it will capture it,“ avers Richa.
“I'm playing a variety of roles. In Sudhir (Mishra) Sir's film, I'm playing a very feminine character. She's a strong girl but very girly-girly . Then there's another one in which I'm quite a rondu (weepy) character, always depressed and crying. Then in Main Aur Charles I'm playing a very gullible girl, so there's a variety of roles that people will see me in this year,“ she adds, “These days, every actor is doing every kind of role offered to him or her. We don't have art film and non-art film kind of actors these days. So if I'm doing a Fukrey in which I'm shown mouthing expletives, I'm also doing a Cabaret with Mahesh Bhatt, which is an out-and-out musical. So gone are the days of Bollywood stereotypes.“
`MARRIAGE DOESN'T MEAN AN END TO A WOMAN'S CAREER'
Richa recently featured in a video which advises against early marriage for girls in India. Talking about why she chose to espouse the cause, the actress says, “As soon as a girl turns 2021 years old, the pressure of marriage grows on her, even guys face that same pressure but not as much as girls.Even if your parents are fine with you not being married till later in life, there will be neighbours, relatives ­ chacha, bua, mausi ­ and friends goading them to get you married off. So imagine me married at the age of 22, me a Chadha ki chaddhi, what would I be? I surely won't be an actor! So basically this video was just an appeal to parents to not force their daughters to get married so early . Though I also believe that marriage doesn't mean an end to a woman's career.“
Richa goes on to cite examples from the film industry to illustrate her point. “You see, even in Bollywood there are so many actresses who are successful and married. Radhika Apte, Vidya Balan, Kareena Kapoor, all of them are married. Aditi Rao Hydari was married. So now there is greater acceptance of married actresses in Bollywood as well. But in general life, please don't marry off your daughters early ,“ she says.
`LUCKNOW WILL ALWAYS BE SPECIAL'
Coming back to Lucknow after several months Richa finds visiting the city a lovely experience. “It's wonderful coming back to Lucknow, this is the result of all that shopping I did last time while I was shooting here,“ says Richa, showing off her pristine white chikan suit. The actress shot here for Aur Devdas, last year. “Lucknow will always be very special to me,“ says the actor adding, “I spent nearly two months here and it was great seeing the whole city. The people here are wonderful.“
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