Fatima Sana Shaikh on why female actors aren’t repeated by directors often: Male actors bring in money

Fatima Sana Shaikh recently announced her film with actor R Madhavan, Aap Jaisa Koi. It’s a love story, and the actor is in awe of her co-star. “I’ve been smitten by Madhavan all my life. So, I told him that I have the hugest crush on you. He knows how much I love him for his craft and how much I respect him. He is also so respectful towards me. He is also such a nerd. He brings in these new gadgets and gets so excited about them. He is such a child then,” Fatima Sana Shaikh gushes.

The actor also recently wrapped up her shoot for Anurag Basu’s Metro… In Dino, and the film marks her reunion with the filmmaker after Ludo. “I have told Anurag Basu that whichever film you make, give me the smallest role and I will do it. Now, I have started arm twisting him also,” she quips.

The film has had its fair share of delays in the shoot and release plan, and Fatima addresses them saying: “I would rather have Dada (Anurag) take his time and make a good film, then just release a film that’s not there. He’s a filmmaker who is very clear of what he wants to make. And people think he is the sole one making the call, but he is handling an ensemble cast. Every actor has different availabilities and there are so many other things that he has to work on. So, finding combination dates take time, it’s not easy.”

In the Hindi film industry, directors are known to repeat their leading men in films, but Fatima is one of the few female actors who have been repeated by a director. Ask her about the reason behind this parity and she says, “It’s because they bring in the money. If Shah Rukh Khan gets more money, it’s because he can give you the audience. Certain actors bring a certain number of eyeballs with them. So, when you are casting as a director, you are also thinking of the money aspect. And there are still a number of bankable male actors, thus they reunite with them more. But how many bankable female actors do we have? There’s Kangana Ranaut, Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, but the number is few. That’s why we are not repeated. If we will bring in numbers, we will also be repeated.”