Actor Sameera Reddy, comparing the film industry to a ‘game of snakes and ladders’, has recalled a couple of instances of how female actors are treated.
Actor Sameera Reddy has recalled two indirect instances of how female actors are treated in the film industry. She said that she doesn’t socialise much, but is aware that it is an important part of getting hired.
In an interview to Pinkvilla, Sameera said that she was caught off guard when a kissing scene was included in one of her films without her knowledge. “I was doing this film and suddenly I was told that there will be a kissing scene added to the film,” she said. “It wasn’t there before so I wasn’t okay with it. The makers tried to reason with me saying, ‘You did it in Musafir,’ and I was like but that doesn’t mean I’ll keep on doing it. He had then told me that please handle this with care but remember you are replaceable.”
She said that on another occasion, an actor called her ‘boring’ and ‘unapproachable’, and said that he wouldn’t want to work with her again, which is what happened. “The whole game is like snakes and ladders. So you need to know how to move around the snakes and make your way. I would never party or hang out with the actors post my shoot. I would head back home and rather watch TV. I never really socialised and I know that helps a lot in getting films. But it’s fine. It’s the nature of the business,” she said.
Recently, actor Isha Koppikar had also spoken about similar incidents that she’d experienced in her career. “A lot of times, I was about to get a role, but then somebody called. The father or mother would call and a starlet would get it. If somebody is with someone and the heroine is his muse or girlfriend, then she would get the role. All this has happened to me,” she told Pinkvilla.
Sameera, who has appeared in films such as Darna Mana Hai (2003), Musafir (2004), Jai Chiranjeeva (2005), Taxi Number 9211 (2006), Ashok (2006), Race (2008). Her last film was 2013’s Varadhanayaka. She has transitioned into a career as a social media influencer.
