Asha Parekh says Amitabh Bachchan is still getting good roles, while we play grandmother

At a time when roles are being written for her contemporaries such as Amitabh Bachchan, why aren't senior women actors getting good parts, asks veteran star Asha Parekh.

Parekh, 80, and actor Tanuja, 79, spoke about the challenges women actors faced and the evolution of the film industry during a session of 'Maitri: Female First Collective'.

Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, at this age also, people are writing roles for him. Why aren't people writing roles for us? We should also be getting some roles which are important to the film. (But,) No, that's not there. Either we are playing mothers, grandmothers or we are playing sisters. Who's interested (in such roles)? I'm not interested," Parekh said.

The actor, known for hits such as "Kati Patang", "Teesri Manzil" and "Mera Gaon Mera Desh", also talked about the age gap between heroes and heroines, a problem, she said, persists even today.

"For women in those days, it was like if they got married, their career was finished. Now, it is not so. So, the heroes may be 50 or 55, they are working with 20-year-olds and that is acceptable till today," the Dadasaheb Phalke recipient said at the Prime Video event.

To a question about the industry being male-dominated, Tanuja, the star of movies such as "Jewel Thief" and "Haathi Mere Saathi",  said she always tried to live by her rules.

"These are rules that are created but it is up to us (to decide) what is important... Looking at my own life, I decided that 'Okay, I am not going to be number one or two but I will make my place in this world' and I did. I have never broken any rules in my life because I make the rules," she added.

Praising the strides that women have taken in the film industry and elsewhere, Tanuja said it is important for women to prioritise themselves.

Asked about pay parity and whether they were able to ask for equal pay as their male counterparts, Parekh said she was not very good at it.

"I was very bad with money. My mother used to do that. After my mother and father passed away, I had to take matters into my own hands. Payment was always a problem, previously and even now. It is always the men standing up for the money."

The two actors also spoke about how film sets were not friendly to female stars and staff when it came to sanitation.

"We used to feel shy to say that 'There are no bathrooms'. The studio just had one bathroom for everybody and it was horrible. We used to sit from morning to evening, not going to the bathroom," Parekh said.

"We couldn't do that (ask for better sanitation). In our time, that was the way we were taught (to not talk about these things)," Tanuja added.

Also part of the panel were Aparna Purohit, head of India originals at Amazon Prime Video; Smriti Kiran, curator and creator of 'Maitri: Female First Collective'; "Jubilee" stars Aditi Rao Hydari and Wamiqa Gabbi; and producer Deepa De Motwane.