Deepika Padukone, riding high on the success of recent blockbusters like Pathaan and Jawan, is gearing up for her next release, the aerial action film Fighter. However, the actress has been in the spotlight for her involvement in predominantly male-centric narratives, prompting discussions about gender representation in her film choices.
With her upcoming projects like Singham Again and the Prabhas-starrer Kalki 2898 AD also centering around male-driven stories, questions have been raised about Deepika’s selection of action films with a male focus. Responding to this concern, Deepika hinted at an upcoming project, Shakti Shetty, part of Rohit Shetty’s female cop universe, which she believes will provide a balanced narrative.
When asked about why she is picking up male-centric films, Deepika humorously said, “Yeah sure, wait for Shakti Shetty!” She further said, “But to complete my thought, you never anyway never do anything alone. I don’t think women can succeed without men and men can’t succeed without women. I think we need to rephrase the definition of feminism.”
Deepika was also asked if going forward she would be doing films like Piku more, to which she answered, “The space is there, the writers have to write. It will happen, I think it is just a matter of time. Post COVID, everyone felt a bit rattled. It was a new experience everyone was coming out of and we made a lot of assumptions about where we are headed. We are jumping too soon in this journey of what’s working, what’s not working, that only big budgets films (are working). Actors service a script, a director. You invest in stories, you invest in characters, you invest in people, you invest in the journey.”
Deepika also shared that she is open to doing small-budget films and reminded that she has been a part of movies like Chappak, Finding Fanny and more. She said, ” I’m always open. I’ve always been that actor. Way before I’ve done films like–they didn’t do well so we don’t remember them–Finding Fanny, Chhapaak, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, there are a lot of these movies. So, as an actor, I’m most excited about telling stories, whether it happens to be a Rs 500 crore budget film or a Rs 50 crore; I’ve never looked at that. I am interested in telling a story.”
