Actor Mallika Prasad, the fierce antagonist in Rani Mukerji starrer 'Mardaani 3', opened up about the evolving space for female villains in the industry. Highlighting the growing acceptance of women in negative roles, Prasad, in an interview with ANI, said she had wanted to explore that character type for a while.

"I wanted to explore what it is like to be a villain. I'm not unfamiliar with playing characters that are not straight or black and white characters, but I'm always keen to see how people receive characters like this in mainstream work. Sometimes, you don't think of a villain necessarily as a woman. I'm of the generation when 'Mogambo' was the iconic villain of all time. I also think about what it would mean to have a woman play an iconic villain like that," she said.