‘Bollywood still wants to make titillating films’, says Richa Chadha

Richa Chadda speaks to Nikita Wadhawan about her entry into Rs100-cr club, her relationship with Ali Fazal and not being part of the Anurag’s camp

As an actress, her unconventional career choices have made Richa Chadda, one of the few actresses in Bollywood who has struck a fine balance between mainstream and offbeat films. But in spite of that people have been unable to tap into her true potential as an actress.

“See, what happens is that when such a character becomes so popular they want to see you in it again and again. This is the same thing that happened to Varun (Sharma), after ‘Fukrey’ every role he was offered was similar to Chu-Cha. As an actor, we need to work very hard to break a stereotype. I hope that I continue doing that and get work that I enjoy doing,” divulges Richa.

Albeit the actress admits that she doesn’t get many “eye candy” role, she does get scripts that have an inherent sexism in them.

“Everybody get films which are very sexist. Everyone here (Bollywood) wants to make titillating films but I always say no to those. I don’t have any issue with the portrayal of sex but it should not be pointless. ‘Massan’ has its opening scene as a sex scene but it was not put in for the sake of it, it made sense to the story,” she says.

Richa recently reprised her role of Bholi Punjaban, the antagonist in the commercial entertainer, Fukrey Returns which has crossed the Rs100-cr mark. Talking about entering the prestigious club she says, “I am very happy with ‘Fukrey 2’s success, everyone likes box office success and our effort has paid off. It has been a great end to 2017. I am happiest for my director Mrigdeep (Singh Lamba) because he deserves this. Happy to see the film being loved so extensively and to see everyone going out in numbers to see and enjoy the film.”

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Apart from the success of ‘Fukrey 2’, the 31-year-old actress also talked about why she kept her relationship with Ali Fazal secret for so long. “Actors are not comfortable talking about their relationship in public is because then people keep asking ki ab shaadi kab karoge. These are personal questions and I don’t think you meet your colleges and ever ask them when they are getting married. We came out about it kyu ki aisa lag nahi raha tha ki we would be able to hide any longer,” says Richa who made her relationship public after accompanying Ali as his date to Venice International Film Festival where his movie Victoria & Abdul had the world premiere.

So does she have any plans to join Hollywood anytime soon? “I have a done a Hollywood film which is ‘Love Sonia’. It is a very sweet and good story and I wish it sees light soon,” she reveals.

One of Richa’s most memorable roles have been ‘Nagma Khatoon’, the bellicose and extremely foul-tongued wife of a gangster in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. While her co-star Nawazuddin Siddiqui has collaborated with director Anurag Kashyap again in ‘Scared Games’, she doesn’t see collaborating with the ace director again.

“I am very grateful to Anurag to trust a young newcomer to play a part that is so strong. He knows that I am always available, he is my mentor but I don’t see him repeating any female actors in any of his films,” Richa castoffs the idea.

With actors like Shraddha Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu and Mouni Roy entering the biopic bandwagon, does Richa also want to do a biopic?

“I would love to play a female politician who has worked from the grass root level and now become a mass leader like Jayalalithaa, Mayawati or Indira Gandhi. These women have made their career in politics at a time when there were very few political female figures,” concludes Richa.