Recently in an interview, Kajol shares her observations about her life as a mature, married actor in Bollywood.
“In India, with female actors, what changes is how people look at them. After marriage, she is less appealing because she is ‘taken’.”
She goes on to touch on how women’s lives tend to change after marriage in desi communities: “Yes, there is no denying that longevity of female actor is a lot [less] than their male counterparts. After marriage, priorities change. Socially and personally, I am entrusted with more responsibilities, so is my partner.
When asked about her upcoming comeback she said, “Wasn’t Dilwale (2015) my comeback film? No, wait, maybe Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) was. I have made 25 comebacks. I am losing track of the number.”
But about on marriage’s impact on a female actor’s career, she offered this little nugget: “In India, with female actors, what changes is how people look at them. After marriage, she is less appealing because she is ‘taken’.”
Kajol’s statement seems to suggest that most female roles are written to feed into the male audience’s fantasies. So what is the status of any female star in Bollywood?
