Fantastic time for women actors in film industry: Sushmita Sen

Mumbai: Actress and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen says the change in the roles essayed by women in the Hindi film industry is fantastic.

"It's a fantastic time for women actors in the film industry because I have seen in the last 13 years alone, the whole concept of a woman-centric film being the centre of all the attention," Sushmita told IANS here.

Sushmita, who is a single mother to two daughters -- Renee and Alisah, said the Indian audience is getting more educated regarding such films.

"We're a lovely film-going nation. I do feel very strongly that more and more opportunities such as these should arise through a good script, great makers and an audience that is willing to learn and enjoy different kinds of Cinema," she added.

Having featured in films like "Biwi No.1" and "Main Hoon Na", Sushmita's last big screen appearances were in the 2010 Bollywood film "No Problem" and in Bengali film "Nirbak".

Asked if it was a conscious decision to stay away from the big screen, Sushmita said: "As far as a conscious decision goes, it's really an amalgamation of a lot of things... It's just that I made a choice this time. To be a mum, that was very much a part of every little detail of a second child being brought up, and she's (Alisah is) now seven."

Sushmita also said the kind of scripts and films that came her way was another reason why she preferred to stay away from doing movies.

"It's the kind of scripts and the films that were coming my way... I chose to utilise my time more productively. I understand and respect the need for us to constantly follow a system of films after films, but the truth of the matter is, I had to choose and prioritise, and I chose... this," the 41-year-old said.

She was recently in Manila to judge the Miss Universe 2016 contest, and she also became a showstopper at the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2017 for designer Sashi Vangapalli.

By Durga Chakravarty