It is a bitter reality of the Indian film industry that actresses typically have shorter careers and are given fewer opportunities as they age, compared to their male counterparts. As a result, patience and persistence in waiting for the right role don’t always seem like viable options when moving forward with their career choices.

After all, the industry is predominantly male-dominated and influenced by nepotism.

However, within this profit-driven environment, where commerce often takes precedence over artistic choices, the gutsy decisions made by some actresses serve as flickers of hope amidst despair.

A recent example is Ananya Pandey playing the role of Nella in the Netflix screenlife thriller CTRL (2024). Her decision to take on this character stands as a striking instance of resistance, where a young actress refused to accept limited opportunities in poorly written or narrowly defined roles that stifled her growth.

However, doesn’t most of the credit go to director Vikramaditya Motwane for this shift? Pandey’s other release this year, the web series Call Me Bae, received criticism and was met with negative reviews, which highlights how much the director’s vision can shape an actor's performance.

Though her roles in films like Gehraiyaan (2022) and Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2024) were much stronger compared to her other films Liger (2022) and Khaali Peeli (2020), they still didn't fully showcase her potential.

In another example, we can cite two mainstream actresses of Bengali cinema Debashree Roy and Rituparna Sengupta respectively.

They were mostly seen in commercial roles, dancing with the heroes, and their performances were often melodramatic and stereotyped in films made during the '80s and '90s.

It took a visionary filmmaker like Rituparno Ghosh to cast Roy in Unishe April (1994) and Sengupta in Dahan (1997), which not only brought out unseen dimensions of their acting craft but also earned them the National Award for Best Actress.

Similarly, in Assamese cinema, a reputed actress like Moloya Goswami, despite acting in more than a dozen films, is most notable for her performances in Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia’s Agnisnaan (1985) and Jahnu Barua’s Firingoti (1992), for which she won the National Award for Best Actress.

Even her performance as an ailing elderly woman in Himjyoti Talukdar’s Calendar (2017) was also emotionally resonant and once again confirmed her ability to showcase her versatility.

I would like to conclude this piece by stating that it is the collaboration between a filmmaker's vision and the possibilities of a character on paper that brings out the true potential of an actor, irrespective of gender.

Instead of dismissing their talent based on early performances or typecasting, we must examine how the right script, character, and direction can unlock their depth and range.

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