Shilpa Shetty revealed that she was never offered roles in big banner movies in the 90s and opened up on how only glamorous roles would come her way.
Shilpa Shetty made her debut in Hindi cinema with Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer Baazigar in 1993, and was one of the most popular leading ladies in the 90s. However, the actress feels that she never got her due as an actor. Recently, in a new interview, Shilpa talked about how she never got cast in big banner movies and was typecast into glamorous roles.
The Hungama 2 actress told Siddharth Kannan, “I never got the tag of an actor. I always got relegated or rather typecast into being just a glamorous actor, which is also a great niche to have because today I can proudly say that I can do this (pointing towards the poster of her upcoming film Sukhee), but can you become glamorous? Being glamorous is aspirational and it’s ok as long as you can carve your niche. I can say proudly that I picked from whatever was offered to me and I survived.”
Speaking about how she survived on a career made on her songs, she elaborated, “I have had a long career with so many lows that I used to wonder, ‘Why didn’t I get offered this role or why was I never offered a film with big banners?’ Whatever I have achieved is by working in small films with big actors. I did small characters and no matter whether my films worked or not, all my songs were hits. I am surviving because of my songs.”
Over the years, Shilpa Shetty has been a part of many iconic songs like ‘Chura Ke Dil Mera’ (Main Khiladi Tu Anari), ‘Main Aayi Hoon UP Bihar Lootne’ (Shool), Shut Up And Bounce (Dostana), amongst many others.
In the same interview, Shilpa also emphasized on how she has never worked for money and recalled the times when she wasn’t paid her dues by the film producers in the 90s.
“There are films of the 90s which I worked in, and the producers would say, ‘Oh, we incurred losses.’ So, I didn’t get the remaining fees also. That time was very different,” the actress shared in her interview.
On the work front, Shilpa Shetty is currently busy with the promotions of her upcoming film, Sukhee which also features Amit Sadh and Kusha Kapila.
