Shilpa Shetty Kundra: Rohit treated my character without gender bias

Playing the first female police officer in Rohit’s cop universe, Shilpa on how the filmmaker crafted her role as a powerful and ‘badass’ woman in a man’s world

Reinvention is the key to her 31-year career, believes Shilpa Shetty Kundra. She advises to change with the changing times. “I have done television, YouTube, radio, started my own app, and invested in Bastian. A web series was the next medium to connect with the audience,” says the actor as she makes her web series debut with Rohit Shetty’s Indian Police Force. And she has a fierce avatar to boot. Shilpa plays Tara Shetty, a no-nonsense cop in the Sidharth Malhotra and Vivek Oberoi-starrer. “This is the best debut I could have thought of. It’s a Rohit Shetty [show]. I am a Shetty playing a Shetty in another Shetty’s world.”  

 
The actor plays the first female cop in Rohit’s elaborate cop-verse. The role brings with it pride and responsibility that as a woman in a man’s world, she is paving the way for her female peers. “I have to give credit to Rohit. He had an image for the character and he treated it like that, without gender bias. Even during an altercation scene with Sidharth, my character doesn’t scream; she goes for him with power and punch. Initially, I was unable to do this series because of dates. But I moved things around because I couldn’t have passed it up. Tara Shetty is a badass, speaks her mind, and is a woman in power. She is called Selfish Shetty in 
the series.”

For Shilpa, Tara is the goal she didn’t know she had when she, at 17, turned actor to make some pocket money. The actor, who debuted with Baazigar (1993), remembers, “I was a middle-class girl looking to earn a salary. I wasn’t looking for parts, and did whatever came to me. I made pocket money that was bigger than my pocket. My understanding of acting came only after 10-12 films. I learnt what not to do seeing the bad work I did in the first five years.” Today, she is proud at how far she has come. Portraying Tara is a turning point for her as the character holds her own in a male bastion. “I have a hunger in my belly for such roles. Now, I have the maturity to play this character. I want people to know that now Shilpa Shetty talks business and when she does a project, it’s gonna be good!”

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