Vaani Kapoor is basking in the appreciation for her performance in her latest big-screen outing Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021). And she is happy to have reached a stage where her acting chops are recognised, as until now, she was slotted into the ‘rom-com actor’ and ‘good dancer’ categories.

“People would say, ‘You dance really well’. And I would be like, ‘I also act’. Maybe I don’t get those meaty parts enough to showcase [my acting skills]. Of course it’s also the director (Abhishek Kapoor) who has presented me in a certain way, and it worked,” she says.

The actor feels that there is also a change in how we look at female actors, but it’s not enough just yet. “With the emergence of women-driven films, women get good parts to play. But audiences need to give such films a chance and give it enough so that the box-office numbers don’t look shabby, for the makers to have the courage to make more films which are driven by women, or give them meatier parts,” elaborates Vaani, who has Shamshera lined up for a release this year.

While the situation is uncertain yet again due to the surge in Coronavirus cases, she is happy that both her films last year — BellBottom and Chandigarh... — opened in theatres, and not on OTT. Supporting theatrical releases, she mentions, “I am happy that the film released in theatres, because I feel it reaches a larger audience. A lot of people are still not on OTT.”

The 33-year-old also doesn’t miss mentioning how the theatrical experience is vastly different from the streaming one. “It (watching movies in theatres) is a community experience. My father doesn’t step out usually because of Covid worries and his ailments. But he went to a theatre in Delhi for my film. He said he loved the whole experience. He also loved the film, but he liked the experience of watching it with friends and family,” she concludes.