Living with the tag of 'sexy' at a young age felt horrible: Riya Sen

Actor Riya Sen says being sexualised in films and music videos at a young me her so uncomfortable that she decided to stop working in Hindi movies.

Riya hails from a family of artistes that includes her grandmor Suchitra Sen, mor Moon Moon Sen and sister Raima Sen.

She was just 16 when she got her breakthrough in 1998 after she featured in music video of Falguni Pathak's song "Ya Piya Ki Aane Lagi".

Films naturally followed, with director Bharathiraja's Tamil romantic drama "Taj Mahal" in 1999 marking her big screen debut.

Riya went on to star in Hindi films, including 2001 sleeper hit comedy "Style", Sujoy Ghosh's musical drama "Jhankaar Beats" (2003) and Ajay Devgn's "Qayamat: City Under Threat" (2003).

actor said when she began her Bollywood journey, she was excited how her choices were paying off at box office.

But with commercial success, tag of being "bold" caught up.

"I realised some of films I did, after a few hits that I h, y weren't working for me because I wasn't comfortable in roles I was playing. That's why probably people thought I was a b actress and I don't blame m.

"At that point when I did a lot of Bollywood movies, it was about being sexy, clos that you wear, makeup that you do. I didn't fit into that," Riya told PTI in an interview.

39-year-old actor said that labels such as "sexy" and "bold" me her feel terrible.

"Getting those tags, it was just terrible, horrible. Living with that... I was in school when tag of 'sexy' started coming way. re was so much pressure to always look perfect, a certain way.

"Even when I went out, people h this perception that 'Oh Riya Sen' because y feel what you're on screen, you're same in real life."

With time, discomfort of fitting in stereo of a 'Hindi film heroine' started to get on her nerves.

So, despite featuring in multi-starrers, including "Apna Sapna Money Money", "Shai 1" and "Love Khichdi" between 2005-2010, roles and overarching emphasis on "looking glamorous" became increasingly tough to handle.

"Everyone wants to be glamorous, doubt, but I was so young when I came here. I was doing all se roles, wearing a mini skirt, running around and acting 'cute'. When I'd watch myself on screen I'd be like 'eeks, I can't believe that's me.'

"I found myself very uneasy, very uncomfortable. It wasn't me. I couldn't go on set everyday, get my hair curled for hours and sit with all that make-up. It just didn't do it for me. I took a conscious decision to stop working in Bollywood movies at that time."

But what was a loss for Bollywood, turned out to be a gain for Bengali cinema.

actor found acclaim in filmmaker Ritupar Ghosh's 2011 period drama "ukubi", based on Rabindranath Tagore's 1906 vel of same name. She went on to work in or Bengali films, including Srijit Mukherji's musical drama "Jaatishwar" and romance-action "Hero 420" in 2016.

"In Bengali films, I played my version of glamorous, where I played a wide-ranging characters. I tapped into my potential in Bengali films, which I don't think directors in Bollywood were able to understand. I played what y wanted. Today, I kw what I can bring to table."

Riya said what furred her drive to do challenging roles was emergence of streaming platforms.

Even though she h started to find her in Bengali films, actor said she decided to t rush in and wait for web series to explode.

Since 2017, Riya has featured in both, Hindi and Bengali web series, including Ekta Kapoor's "Ragini MMS: Returns", "Poison" and "Mismatch".

She is currently seen on MX Player's Mathura-set comedy "Pati Patni Aur Woh", which chronicles story of a middle-class man who finds himself battling with ghost of his de wife in his second marri.

Riya said she is completely enjoying herself in new phase of her career, where web series have offered her possibilities to dive into varied roles.

"I'm fitting into this world better than I did in typical Bollywood formula movies. I'm t saying I'm more open for Bollywood movies, but I'm very happy where I am. web series also offers you tremendous to do all kinds of roles," she said.

Im credit: Instagram/@riyasendv