‘I grew up in an industry which was generous, kind, had a big heart, and was not cutthroat. Well, maybe it was cutthroat, but not like this.’
‘Itna gussa nahi tha logon mein. People were generous. Insecure nahi the. Aisa nahi tha, mera kaam leke bhaag jayega.’
Key Points
- Mona Ambegaonkar criticises Bollywood for offering limited and stereotypical roles to older actresses, primarily as mothers with varying screen time.
- She advocates for more meaningful stories about women, citing her OTT film Gudhal as an example of exploring the realities of old age.
- Mona reminisces about a more generous and less cutthroat industry during her early career, contrasting it with today’s hyper competitive environment.
Mona Ambegaonkar does not mince words.
If you want the real picture of how Bollywood treats older actresses, you just have to spend a minute with her.
“Most of the scripts I get are mostly the hero’s mother or the heroine’s mother. If it is the heroine’s mother, there is less screen space because after marriage, the heroine’s mother disappears. It is better to be the hero’s mother because she has more screen time and so you get more money!” Mona exclaims.
She’s not done yet.
She hopes that the world gives more importance to beautiful stories of women, like her OTT film Gudhal about the harsh realities of old age, rather than “films about bloodshed, propaganda films and the politically bad films that are spreading hatred”.
Gudhal, streaming on Hungama and Tata Play Binge, is a festival film directed by Yuvraaj Parashar, and co-starring Sudha Chandran and Shahbaz Khan.
‘My generation did not have childhood dreams’
Interestingly, not many know that Mona started her career as an assistant director to Jalal Agha (he was directing a sitcom called Mr Ya Mrs in those days), and has even assisted Shekhar Kapur on Mr India.
“My generation did not have childhood dreams; ask your mother if she had one,” the 60-year-old actor questions.
Even though her family was not from the movies — Mona’s father was an air force officer — she thrives on the sets, whether it’s in front of the camera or behind.
In this interview, she shares, quite animatedly, beautiful stories about how she went from Jalal Agha’s eighth assistant to first assistant in a month, how she made Amrish Puri blush (Mona’s humour is deliciously subtle and straight-faced), how she first met Shekhar Kapur as a “bheegi billi“, and why Ashok Kumar didn’t like her name too much!
‘Goonda, mother-in-law, neighbour-wali phuppi, ek aunty type… where is the fifth option?’
But once those stories are over, Mona returns to the problem at hand, the one plaguing talented actresses of a certain vintage.
“Who’s writing stories about us? How many directors have you interviewed who are writing stories about women who are 50 plus, and not making them into quasi-masculine characters, like goondas or the perpetual socialite?” she asks Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
