Actor Kitu Gidwani does not shy away from calling out the entertainment industry for often putting older women in a stereotypical box, and says creators should be ashamed of discarding women over 40 years of age.

“When it comes to portrayal of real women on screen, we are light years behind on what we are showing. We are cowards in this country and do not want to show women who are highly successful, single or don’t have children,” Gidwani tells us.

The 54-year-old, who is known for projects such as Swabhimaan, Air Hostess, Dance Of The Wind (1997), Earth (1999) and Rukhmavati Ki Haveli (1991), asserts that the industry is still not making space for women over 40.

“Enough of discarding women after they turn 40. Women are in their prime at this age. Men are like teenagers till the day they die. But women mature [with age]; they are capable of anything, once they are sure of themselves. When a woman knows who she is, she can reach the moon. So I am hoping to see this fire in women onscreen as well,” she asserts.

“I am doing more [work] today than I did when I was 40,” adds the actor, who is disappointed with the lack of representation of “real women”. However, the actor is hoping for things to change fast. “Hum log dhindhora peet rahe hain ke women are going ahead and changing things, but it is not shown in our films, small screen or in the web space. Shame on the entertainment industry for this,” adds the actor, who recently played a mother in the web show, Potluck.

“At the end of the day, a male writer wants to put the woman back in the box where she’s at his service. And I want to say, ‘I am not at service to anyone’. In fact, the number of women in the business is still pretty low,” she emphasises.

Gidwani continues, “Writing is not changing in India to my great dismay.” While she accepts that change is seeping in, she feels it is too slow. “In reality, women in India and all over the world are way ahead of what fiction is showing,” she ends.

Having been in the entertainment industry for three decades, Kitu Gidwani is sure of what doesn’t appeal to her as an actor. “Saas-bahu dramas are just not for me,” she declares, at the onset of our conversation. Her actions too match her words. After making her OTT debut with Fittrat (2019), followed by Ghost Stories (2020), she is now seen in Potluck — a charming family comedy.

“It is difficult to find good and subtle comedy these days. The writing of Potluck made it fun,” says the actor, who plays the matriarch in the Sony LIV offering. While her co-stars found their characters right in their wheelhouse, for Gidwani it was not the case. “I am usually quite childish and silly on set. I had to rein myself in and be consciously reserved. The freedom to own the character and do small improvisations was only possible because of the competent cast.”

Gidwani says that post 2000, the television offers that came her way didn’t match her creative sensibilities. “[In 2005], I did Ravi Rai’s Kasshish, which was about an adulterous relationship. The writing was fabulous. It was one of the most nuanced serials on Indian television [that spoke about] what happens in a [love] triangle. Only Ravi Rai could have written it like that. We did about 60 episodes, and I felt it could have gone up to 100 at least.”

Happy to front shows that she believed in, the actor says she had little inclination to join the rat race that the telly world became in the mid-2000s. “I know that it is possible to shoot for 12 hours, but the whole insanity that trickled in where we were being treated like mules or bullock carts [was not for me]. I feel many actors were trampled on. Television seems to have gone into some black hole, which it may never come out of. Every channel need not make a saas-bahu drama.”

The actor says that OTT has given people the freedom to be creative and talk about issues that matter. “OTT platforms have opened the world globally. The topics are much more vast. The good and bad in the society can be shown through satire, which is an amazing genre.”