In 1994, Sonali Bendre stepped into Bollywood as its new blue-eyed girl. That year she also swept many ‘new face of the year’ awards. And that ‘new face’ has captivated audiences for three decades now. Today, Sonali has many experiences to share.
When asked what she thinks has changed over the years in the film industry, Sonali said, “The industry has changed drastically. The ’90s was a time when only certain kinds of stories could be told because you needed to fill the single screen. Your film needed to have everything – drama, action, item number, etc. That left very little room for different kinds of storytelling. Then multiplexes came in and we were all so excited that different kinds of stories could be told. Now it is OTT where there are no restrictions on the kind of stories that can be told. It’s amazing.”
Also Read | The Broken News 2 review: Top-notch Sonali Bendre, Jaideep Ahlawat show us how the news is spun
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While OTT has opened a wide door of possibilities, it has also eradicated the concept of shelf life in a way, not just for projects, but also for actors. Giving her opinion on the same, Sonali Bendre shares, “It is amazing to see the extension of shelf life for female actors. I do feel that as an actor, you start off a certain way and then life and experiences teach you. So where I was concerned, I would always feel that just when you started understanding your craft, and have lived a certain amount of life is when your career is over. Now being able to come back and play different kinds of roles, the layers you can add to them, it is because you have lived that life, you have those experiences.”
“There are so many female voices today that were never there. You had one or two writers. You now find women in every department. It is amazing to see that today when you look behind the camera, you see so many women. There was a time when the only woman on the set was the actress, and the hairdresser at the most. Or may be the mother of one of the actresses who had come,” she added.
Also Read: Sonali Bendre on cancer diagnosis: ‘The technician there said it’s like a Christmas tree inside. It had spread so much…’
Sonali Bendre believes in doing memorable roles, and her character in The Broken News Season 2 is one such role. In the show, Sonali reprises her role of Ameena Qureshi, a news editor who chooses to stick to the truth no matter the cost. We asked Sonali if it is advisable to speak the truth today, and what is the price one has to pay in a situation like this. She said, “As filmy as it might sound, sach bolne ki toh hamesha hi kimat chukani padi hai (There has always been a price to pay for speaking the truth). It is not new, but still speaking the truth is very important. In this day and age, I feel it is easy to tell the truth, but the problem is that nobody is listening.”
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Sonali even recalled how in her film journey, she has been a victim of sensational news. She said, “I would lie if I say it hasn’t happened. The Broken News gave me an insight into why it must have happened. I now understand that salacious news or gossip is sold because there is a demand for it. I can’t blame the media anymore. It has been easy to blame the media, but they have their equations. It also depends on all of us in the audience to understand are we asking for it, and is it what we are perpetuating?”
On the work front, Sonali Bendre plans to take up more interesting projects in the OTT space.
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