Mandira Bedi Reveals Why She Decided To Stay Away From Films For A Long Time Post DDLJ

Mandira Bedi won hearts with her portrayal of the coy Preeti Singh in Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. However post that film, the actress stayed away from movies for a long period of time. In a recent interview with an entertainment portal, she opened up on the same.

Mandira revealed that she was offered only shy girl roles post Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. She said that she turned down those roles because she was playing a strong character on her popular TV show Shanti.

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She told Pinkvilla, "Things were very different back then. Around the time when Shanti and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge happened... the thing is women were stereotyped back at that time. So, on TV I was playing this very strong character. But, in films, it happened that if you are playing somebody's sister or sister-in-law or a second lead, then you are a kind of typecast to play those kinds of roles only. Post Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, I was offered only those kinds of roles in the film industry...the shy girl... I didn't want to play these characters because I was playing this very strong character on television. For a while, I didn't do any movies after DDLJ."

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She said that playing a strong character like Shanti rubbed off on her as well and revealed that she had recieved emails and postcards from women telling her how much they loved that character and wanted to be like her.

On being asked about how people treated her as an actor and as an anchor, Mandira said that nobody bargained with her as an anchor and that she has always chosen what she wanted to do.

"I still don't what to quote for a certain project or what my worth is. Now, I have reached the stage where I look at my entire body of work and the time period, I have been in the business and I quote what I want and get close to that," Mandira told the portal.

With respect to films, Mandira was last seen in Prabhas-Shraddha Kapoor's Saaho.