Farida Jalal says she feels ‘disappointed’ every time she’s offered only mother and dadi role while male contemporaries get to showcase versatility

Farida Jalal says she was typecast and slotted in mother and grandmother roles while her male counterparts Amrish Puri and Anupam Kher got opportunities to showcase their versatility.

Farida Jalal played Shah Rukh Khan's mother in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). (Photo: Express Archives)

The ‘mother’ of 90’s Bollywood, Farida Jalal has played mother to some of the biggest superstars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salmna Khan among others. However, she has finally burst out in frustration as she feels “disappointed” that in her acting career she didn’t get enough opportunities to showcase her versatility. Farida recently opened up that all this while, when she was portraying the roles of mother and mother figures in Hindi films, she felt she was typecast while her male contemporaries got more varied opportunities to flex their acting skills.

Complaining about her being typecast, Farida, in an interview with The Times Of India said that she is waiting for a challenging role where she can showcase her versatility. She also said that every time she’s offered “maa ka role (mother’s role),” or “dadi ka role (grandmother role)”, she feels disappointed that makers don’t think that she can do more than that.

Farida was recently seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar on Netflix and after receiving a warm reaction for her role in the web-series she has expressed a desire that she “wants to do something exciting,” in this phase of her career now.

She said, “my male counterparts got to do so much. From the late Amrish Puri to Anupam Kher, they played villains as well as comedians so well. They were not limited to playing fathers or dadas on the screen, but unfortunately, I have been given just one slot.”

Farida’s film career spans almost 50 years, and she has appeared in over 200 films. While she started her career with Taqdeer (1967), she went on to play leading and supporting roles in numerous Hindi films through the 1970s and early 80s. However, her most loved work are her roles in films like Aradhana (1969), Paras (1971), Henna (1991) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Kuck Kuch Hota Hai (1998) among others.

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