Sonam Kapoor Ahuja: Hopefully, we won’t have to discuss the sex of the lead cast

It’s not common for the Indian audience to see four women leading the charge in a Bollywood movie which doesn’t feature an A-list hero. In that sense, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s next, ‘Veere Di Wedding’ is breaking several moulds. Bring this up and Sonam says, “Like ‘Neerja’ (2016) and more recently ‘Raazi’ (a co-production between Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions), hopefully ‘Veere…’ too will do well and we won’t have to talk about this anymore.We won’t have to discuss the sex of the lead cast. Unfortunately, it is a point of discussion today because of the way things have been. I mean A-list actresses like Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin were a part of a boys’ film, ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ (2011). Preity Zinta was on top of her game when she agreed to a ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001), but we don’t have an A-list hero who would agree to do good films like ‘Raazi’, ‘Neerja’, ‘Raanjhanaa’ (2013), ‘Khoobsurat’ or even a ‘Veere Di Wedding’. No one said yes. I don’t think men have the confidence to do that.”
The actress believes that fewer actors after her father Anil Kapoor have managed to do that with grace and dignity. Elaborating on it, Sonam says, “My father did films like ‘Beta’ (1992) with Madhuri Dixit and ‘Laadla’ (1994) with Sridevi, but I haven’t seen anyone do that. He’s a different kind of person. He raised me to be a feminist. When I came into the industry, I was shocked with the way things were. I was raised very differently. My parents never made me believe that I was any different from my brother Harshvardhan Kapoor). When I came here, I saw we were not paid the same amount as the hero, and not given the same kind of rooms as the leading man. People had that ‘Woh hero hai’ mentality. In the 11 years that I have been around, things have changed, yet there is a lot of change that needs to happen.”
For the full interview, read Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s interview in Bombay Times on May 24.