Deepti Naval, whose film Goldfish has been doing the rounds of many film festivals, doesn’t believe in mincing her words. Ask if she wishes she hadn’t done some films in her three-decade-long career and the veteran actor says, “Absolutely. I wish I had not done half the films I did. Out of the almost 100, l can be proud of about 35 films I did. The rest, I’d like to write them off,” exclaims the veteran.

The 70-year-old, who has been a part of acclaimed films such as Chashme Buddoor (1981) and Mirch Masala (1987), among others, says that like today, female actors would get good roles in the past, too. “I picked some strong characters. I started off with sweet, girl-next-door roles. Then, for almost six months, I didn’t sign any film, as I was getting similar roles. Makers wanted me to play the Chashme Buddoor kind of girl. But I wanted to play a stronger woman. Then I started signing films like Ankahee (1985) and Main Zinda Hoon (1988),” says Naval, who co-stars with actor Kalki Koechlin in Goldfish, which was screened at the 53rd International Film Festival of India, in Goa, recently.

She goes on to explain how professional lives of yesteryear female actors suffered after marriage: “If an actress got married, her career was over. Today, it doesn’t work like that, thank God for that. Many people paid the price for it (getting married). I remember, as soon as I married Prakash (Jha, filmmaker and ex-husband), I had no work at all.”