Actress Riya Sen made her debut in 1998 and has given a lot of memorable performances in various movies. She made her film debut in Bharathiraja’s ‘Taj Mahal’, which released in 1999.
In a recent interview with PTI, Riya opened up about the various experiences she had during the starting stages of her career. She was 16 years old when she featured in the music video Falguni Pathak’s song Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi.
She revealed how being sexualized at a young age made her uncomfortable. She said “I realised some of the films I did, after a few hits that I had, they weren’t working for me because I wasn’t comfortable in the roles I was playing. That’s why probably people thought I was a bad actress and I don’t blame them. At that point when I did a lot of Bollywood movies, it was about being sexy, the clothes that you wear, the makeup that you do. I didn’t fit into that.”
She also added saying how the tags made her very uncomfortable. “Getting those tags, it was just terrible, horrible. Living with that... I was in school when the tag of ‘sexy’ started coming way. There was so much pressure to always look perfect, a certain way.Even when I went out, people had this perception that Oh Riya Sen because they feel what you’re on screen, you’re the same in real life,” said the 39 year old actress.
“Everyone wants to be glamorous, no doubt, but I was so young when I came here. I was doing all these roles, wearing a mini skirt, running around and acting ‘cute’. When I’d watch myself on screen I’d be like ‘eeks, I can’t believe that’s me.’ “I found myself very uneasy, very uncomfortable. It wasn’t me. I couldn’t go on set everyday, get my hair curled for hours and sit with all that make-up. It just didn’t do it for me. I took a conscious decision to stop working in Bollywood movies at that time.”
She garnered a lot of popularity in the Bengali cinema scene, after her performance in ‘Noukadubi’ and ‘Jaatishwar’ and the romance-action ‘Hero 420’ were highly acclaimed.
She concluded saying “In Bengali films, I played my version of glamorous, where I played wide-ranging characters. I tapped into my potential in Bengali films, which I don’t think directors in Bollywood were able to understand. I played what they wanted. Today, I know what I can bring to the table.”