Mumbai: Sushmita Sen has said she cannot be a part of ‘something regressive’ as an actor. That is the reason why web series Aarya, which marks her return to mainstream acting after a decade, appealed to her. Sushmita Sen said she had offers prior to the show but they were not ‘appetising and interesting’. Her role in the Disney+Hotstar series is really worth waiting for. The show starts streaming from June 19.
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“I don’t think women today in India are ‘bechari’. If you want a show in the present time, you can’t make something regressive. I, for one, will not work in that scenario. I can’t work in something that is regressive, I never will,” Sen said.
Wanting inspirational stories
The Mumbai-based star said she wants to align herself to inspirational stories. “It doesn’t always has to be mind-blowing as central characters are. However, I can’t do something that is uninspired. I can’t give six months of my life to it unless it has substance in it to inspire people,” Sen stated. Her last Hindi film was Anees Bazmee’s 2010 movie No Problem.
The character Sushmita portrays
In the show, the actor plays the role of ‘Aarya Sareen’, a happily married woman. However, her world turns upside down when her husband (Chandrachur Singh) is shot. She gets to know that he may have been involved in an illegal drug racket which now threatens her family.
The 44-year-old actor said ‘Aarya’ is ‘an author-backed role’ where she gets to play a woman who rises when put in a tough spot. “When you look at Aarya, she is not an extraordinary woman doing extraordinary things. She has a lot of grit and conviction. However, she has been put into places where she didn’t want to be,” Sush as she is popularly known, said.
Inner strength of women
Sen said often in cinematic representation, women are put in direct competition with the man to show them stronger. It is completely unnecessary, she opined.
“There are strengths that women have. It makes her a hero by the virtue of just that emotional strength that she carries. She has a brain that can be as loving and generous as it can be manipulative. You don’t want to mess with a woman if she has made up her mind,” Sen pointed out.
Being a mom
Some of the nuances in the character come from her life. That is by virtue of being a mother to daughters Renee and Alisah.
“There is lot of me in Aarya. As a mother, I am very protective about my children. I am not a fussy mother. I can be a task mom and so is ‘Aarya’ and that aspect has been brought by Sushmita into ‘Aarya’. There is a lot of fight in Aarya which is again something that I have abundantly in me,” Sen said.
Duration of web series
The web series, which is based on the Dutch series Penoza, is co-directed by Ram Madhvani, Sandeep Modi and Vinod Rawat.
Sen said Madhvani is best known for his biopic on Pan Am flight attendant ‘Neerja Bhanot’. He does not see characters in terms of their genders. The former Miss Universe also said the makers have chalked out plans for next few seasons of the show. The series features Sikandar Kher, Ankur Bhatia and Namit Das.
“Progressively, we have five seasons written. Every season the character just keeps getting stronger and stronger and more exciting,” Sen added.
Agencies