Shehnaaz Gill marked her Bollywood debut with ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’, starring Salman Khan. She also did ‘Thank You for Coming’ in the same year. Now, the actress opened up on why her Bollywood offers started drying up. She also got candid about her career choices and why she has been leaning more towards Punjabi cinema.
In an interview with ‘News18’, explaining the shift, Shehnaaz said, “In Punjabi films, the options for me are more. I won’t say that I don’t get as many offers from Bollywood, but I’ve become a star in the Punjabi film industry. And that’s the honest truth. It’s rightly said that log chhadte suraj ko salaam karte hai.”
“All film industries function that way. If you’re popular, people will come to you and want to cast you in their films. Main toh beautiful hoon hi aur actor bhi achchi hoon. I get a greater number of lead roles in Punjabi films. The other reason is that there are very few women actors there,” she added.
Even in Punjabi cinema, Gill revealed she had to be selective. She said, “I’ve been getting a lot of offers from Punjabi filmmakers in the past five-six years, but I wasn’t getting excited by most of the scripts. Most of them required me not to do any heavy lifting. All I had to do was smile and laugh. I just want to do good, meaningful work. But thankfully, I got ‘Ishqnama’.”
Speaking about her approach to Hindi films, Shehnaaz said, “When it comes to Bollywood too, I’ll do a film only if I have a role that leaves an impact. Otherwise, koi matlab nahi hai. Cinema aisi cheez hai jahaan aap chhap jaate ho saari umar ke liye. And the only way to be remembered is when you do good work.”
She further explained, “It’s not like I want to appear in every scene throughout the length of the film. But I want my character to be pivotal to the story, a character who can drive the story forward. If I get such roles in Hindi films, I’ll definitely do it.”
Shehnaaz also revealed she wants to avoid being reduced to glamour roles. “I don’t want to be in a film only for glamour. I don’t want to be used as a prop. I don’t want to just be a heroine who appears in three odd songs in a film,” she said.
The actress added that she now wants to follow in Radhika Apte’s footsteps.