Vidya Balan says Mission Mangal was seen as an ‘Akshay Kumar film’: Did you not see me & 4 other actresses?

Vidya Balan is one of the most talented actors in the tinsel town of Bollywood. Time and again, Vidya has time and again showcased her acting prowess and versatility as she took on a range of roles and genres of films. She has been a part of movies like The Dirty Picture, Paa, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Begum Jaan, Kahaani, and others. Recently, the actress featured at the O Womaniya! 2022 Adda by Film Companion and talked about how the producers are afraid to make female-centric films.

The actress also cited the example of how Akshay Kumar was credited for the success of Mission Mangal. She said that the film did great business but it was seen as an Akshay Kumar film, which is very unfortunate. “It’s not Akshay Kumar and five other leading ladies, because we’re not being seen as having led the film in any way. But the story couldn’t have been told with just Akshay Kumar, and it wasn’t told with just him. Someone was talking to me about my last hits, and they didn’t mention Mission Mangal, and they said, ‘Woh toh Akshay Kumar…’ and I was like, ‘Did you not see me and four other female actors?,”‘ said Vidya. Meanwhile, apart from Akshay and Vidya, the film also starred Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari and Sharman Joshi.

Further, Vidya said that the COVID-19 pandemic has become an easy excuse for people to say that female-led films will not work in the theatres. “Our industry is going through some kind of flux where a lot of our films are bombing, terribly. And they are your so-called, male hero-led films. But who takes the beating is the female-led films.” She said that people don’t realise that Gangubai Kathiawadi had no man leading it, but it was Alia Bhatt and it did great numbers compared to a lot of other films that had male heroes. She said that it’s very frustrating as there is no logic to it. 

On the work front, Vidya will star next in Neeyat alongside Neeraj Kabi, Shahna Goswami, Ram Kapoor, Rahul Bose, and others

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