Actress Ritabhari Shares How She Was Advised To ‘Play Dumb’ To Get Work In The Industry.
That men and women are different and are treated differently in this society, is something that is a well established fact. From men always being offered more – be it opportunities or preference, to women being reduced to a second choice all the time, things have been far from fair. And this continues even in the kind of advice that are given to men and women in their life. For instance, while men are told to be bold and fierce and go-getters, women are told to be polite, compliant and in a recent case – ‘play dumb’ to get work.
This after the Bengali actor Ritabhari Chakraborty who has given hit movies Raj Chakraborty’s Shesh Theke Shuru, Chotushkone directed by Srijit Mukherji in Bengali cinema and made her Bollywood debut alongside of Anushka Sharma in the movie Pari, revealed how she was asked to play dumb to get work in the industry.
Spilling the beans over this rather sexist and trashy piece of advice, Ritabhari Chakraborty said that during the time she was still making her way into the acting industry, she was told that her personality was rather intimidating. She went on to say, “I was told once, ‘for a while just try playing dumb because that really works.’ I was given example of other actors, who got projects because the heroes or producers aren’t intimidated by their presence. But I felt, I am an educated person why should I not have a voice and be talking?”
#RitabhariChakraborty made her Hindi feature debut with Pari in 2018.https://t.co/LIjikm002s
— Indian Express Entertainment (@ieEntertainment) January 19, 2021
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And considering how frequently it so happens, that alpha women are the first ones to be dismissed by a sexist crowd, for men hate losing their power to someone else, and so we could imagine the reason such advice was doled out. She continued sharing, “I do commercial movies but I don’t understand that language. So I leave that to the director. But if it’s a subject I have an understanding of, I’d like to contribute, though I never override anyone. It’s always the people’s call.”
“Which is why I’m still surviving and get to do films like Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti. I am sure I’ll be fine the way I am in this masculine, male dominated industry,” shared Ritabhari. She also goes on to talk about the discrimination in the industry as she said, “I have faced tons of discrimination. I am still navigating those… Though there is so much content revolving around women and should be said in a feminine voice, it’s not said rightly because we might not get satellite right, not get the right sell for the channel.”
“The biggest discrimination we face is that male content is sought after while female content is not. There’s also the money discrimination part,” highlighted Ritabhari.
We are shocked to learn that even now, patriarchy has its roots spread deep into the system, continuously enabling men, while down-playing women so they never stand shoulder to shoulder with them. Though, we are glad women like Ritabhari aren’t just speaking up about it, but also not holding themselves back just to fit in.
