Actor Kajal Aggarwal recently opened up about how filmmakers down south need to broaden their horizons, when it comes to the film genres apart from the kind of roles they offer to married actors. While talking to Galatta Plus, Kajal was asked why female actors in the south don’t get the kind of roles Deepika Padukone or Alia Bhatt get in Bollywood, as romantic leads or in action films. 

‘It’s not a cultural thing’

While Kajal admitted that she got the meaty roles she plays in Shankar’s Indian 2 (Bharateeyudu 2 in Telugu) and Suman Chikkala’s Satyabhama before she married or had a child, she denied that it was a ‘cultural thing’ for married actors in the south to get sidelined.

“We still have a little bit of stereotype attached, I am hoping we get rid of it soon. It’s this generation of actors who are married and work after having children. I don’t think it’s a cultural thing, I think the audience is accepting of films like that (Tumhari Sulu) if the makers start providing them. It’s the makers who need to start exploring more genres,” she said.

‘Look at Nayanthara’

Kajal also admitted that her husband Gautam Kitchlu initially found it ‘difficult’ to understand why she had to travel so much for her commitments. She stated that she explained to him and got pregnant once she finished her schedule. However, she still had Indian 2 to shoot for two months postpartum.

She admitted, “If we are offered, we would take meatier roles, maybe even the pivotal roles in films. Things are changing. Like Nayanthara, for example, I love how she conducts her filmography. I love her choices. She is an exception and gets these parts on her terms and conditions. So that’s great. But I am happy to be working at this juncture of my life in the industry today because I’ve got kindness and compassion from my directors.”

Upcoming work

Kajal plays a police officer for the first time in her career in Satyabhama, which will be released on June 7. She also stars in Indian 2 with Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, and Rakul Preet Singh, which will be released on July 12. She was also supposed to star in Tathagata Singha’s Uma, but there has been no update on the film.

Telugucinema