Actress Amrapali Dubey, currently participating in “Bigg Boss 20”, believes the Bhojpuri film industry has undergone a significant transformation, with female-led stories and women stars increasingly driving successful films.
Proud of the changing landscape, Dubey said she now expects writers to consider her among their first choices when developing demanding characters.
Asked whether she felt Bhojpuri cinema had offered her enough challenging roles, Dubey said, “Yes, it has. I think whenever a writer writes a challenging role, the first name that occurs in his mind has to be Amrapali Dubey.”
She also pointed to the growing prominence of female-oriented films in the Bhojpuri industry, saying the trend had become particularly visible over the past three to four years.
“Since the past three years, three and a half years, the films that have worked in Bhojpuri are only the films made by female superstars, made with female superstars. And it’s a very proud thing,” she said.
Dubey added that she was proud to see the industry’s traditional norms changing, with audiences increasingly embracing stories centred on women.
“For the past three, three and a half years, four, five years in fact, there are a lot of female-oriented films being made and they’re doing well. People are giving a lot of love,” she said.
Reflecting on the pace of change, the actress said the industry may have taken time to evolve but was now moving forward with greater confidence.
“It takes time to make any change. We’re also taking our time. We’ll come a little late, but we’ll come with a lot of strength,” she said.
The 20th season of “Bigg Boss” premiered on September 6 with 16 celebrity contestants. The lineup includes MC Mary Kom, Kanika Mann, Mahhi Vij, Kushal Tanwar, Aman Gandhi, Isha Rikhi, Arishfa Khan, Qazi Touqeer, Asif Khan, Amrapali Dubey, Rhiti Tiwari, Uditi Singh, Tanmay Singh aka ScoutOP, Rohed Khan, Yung DSA and Love Gill.