In an industry rife with stereotypes, Richa Chadha continues to defy conventions. From playing Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s mother in Gangs Of Wasseypur to a gangster in the recently released Fukrey 3, she has maintained a firm stance against conforming to traditional ‘heroine’ roles.

Therefore, Chadha is stunned when someone mentions “shelf-life” while talking about female artistes. She exclaims, “I’m not a bottle of jam!”

Recounting an incident that happened not very long ago, the 36-year-old says, “There was a director who once offered me a part to be a wife opposite an actor who was 70. I had just turned 30 then; I didn’t have much to do in that film, and I also didn’t want to ruin my chances by being paired opposite a 70-something man.”

So when she told the same to the director, he said, “‘Khud kaun si heroine ban jaayegi ab, Nawaz ki maa bani, phir Bholi Punjaban’. That director is nowhere today, and he told me what he thinks of women by using words like ‘tumhari shelf life’ as if I were a bottle of jam!”