No shelf life for women actors today: Shriya Pilgaonkar

Held on March 1, 2024 in Mumbai, the fifth edition of Adgully’s WOMEN DISRUPTORS 2024 sought to straddle today’s transformative times and unleash the true potential that India’s women workforce drives.

In a lively fireside chat, Sanjay Tripathy, Co-Founder & CEO, BRISKPE, in conversation with actor Shriya Pilgaonkar, delved into the world of films, TV, web series, in the session titled ‘Finding Your Voice Within the Script’.

The session commenced with Shriya Pilgaonkar sharing her journey in the entertainment industry. Shriya said that before getting into acting, she was a trained Kathak dancer, which gave her confidence to perform on stage. From there, she ventured into doing theater. She reminisced, “Unlike most star kids, I was not on the cover of a magazine before my work was out. I had to keep proving myself. My vision for my work was long term.”

Speaking about how the entertainment industry has changed for the better today, Shriya said, “It’s really wonderful to be an actor today. Earlier, women in the film industry were made to feel that they had a shelf life. Women in cinema were broadly categorised into two roles – the sweet and pure heroine who was desired by all, or the smoking and drinking negative character of a vamp.”

There were very few actors such as Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi, who had roles specifically written for them.

“But today, you can see Neena ji (Neena Gupta), Shefali ji (Shefali Shah) doing such great work. Platforms such as OTT are coming out with scripts that highlight women in all their glory holistically. A woman’s role is no longer one-dimensional. Today, age is no longer the factor to decide what kind of roles you’ll get,” she added.

Sanjay Tripathy proceeded to ask Shriya about her process in terms of deciding her new projects. “Do you choose a role, or do you go by the director or the size of the budget of the film?,” he asked.

To this, Shriya replied, “Honestly, in different stages of your career, the process will be different. I started off with a Marathi film, then ‘Fan’ with Shah Rukh Khan, which was my first Hindi film. Although it was an YRF film, I knew it was not a typical launch.”

“If I have to be in this industry for the long run, it’s only going to be my work. So for me, a story is very important, especially today. And of course, icing on the cake is if it is going to be well mounted,” she added.

Watch the entire Women Disruptors Summit here