Shift in conversation on women and their portrayal: Lisa Ray

Having started her career at a time when complex and layered characters for women were a rarity, actor Lisa Ray is happy to be a part of shift in cultural conversation and storytelling. 

Ray plays a superstar reluctant to come out of closet in Amazon Prime Video's Four More Shots Please, a story revolves around four urban women. 

Lisa said creator of series, Rangita Nandy h offered her roles in past as well but she found Four More Shots Please compelling.

Everything about project resonated with me. fact that it's female led, female centric, mes and issues that are dressed, fresh cast and of course role of Samara Kapoor, an over hill star, Lisa told PTI in an interview.

It's t lost on me that at 48 and a veteran of many cultural phases in India, opportunity to tap into current zeitgeist is an unusual hour. When I started in 90s, se roles for women were a distant dream in India and I h to leave ( country) to find good content, she said.

Samara is lover of one of four main les, Umang Singh, played by Bani J. 

Lisa said she was happy to tice that people accepted it as a love story and without labeling it, which is how she also approaches her characters.

I don't label my characters as an actor. I am simply taking on role of wonderfully complex women. And that's how I approached Samara as well.

feedback I receive on #Umara (Samara and Umang) is that relationship is so beautifully rmalised and t played up as anything but two complex, sensitive people trying to make ir relationship work.

She said she surrendered to her director Nupur Asthana's vision. I trusted her implicitly. I'm very much a director's actor. Lisa is happy with response to season one and two of Four More Shots Please. 

She said sophomore season is deliciously subversive, entertaining and emotionally compelling, which appeals to a large segment in audience if t everyone.

We are experiencing a shift in cultural conversation. I do believe audience is rey and re is an audience. You can't possibly appeal to every demographic in India and we're t trying to do it with.

We're staying true to our world. It's a very entertaining show that is reflecting lives of independent, working, urban young women and as Rangita h explained when we first met...we don't see se characters explored eugh in mainstream content in India.

Streaming platforms have helped promote interesting content, especially for women, something which wasn't prevalent in cinema. 

Digital platforms are paving way to more varied, risky and nuanced story-telling. I wonder at representation of women in mainstream films. I wrote about this in my book Close to Bone', about this binary characterisation in 90s, how you could eir be vamp or virginal heroine.

I also wrote: In misogynistic system, women are more disposable than men. We were newspaper items', I remember hearing, hot until next days' news', she said.

Over a period of time, Lisa believes she has become a fearless actor and she focuses more on process of creating a character.

My takeaway (from any project) is to really let go and surrender. I suppose it's an expression of where I am in my life as well. Having lived through cancer, through so many ups and downs, I'm t particularly attached to attention or success- it's lovely if it's re, it's fine if it's t- but I invest in process.

I'm a much more fearless actor w and have stared down my mortality. I kw that sounds dramatic - maybe that's Samara (her character in Four More Shots Please') in me speaking, Lisa said.

She said she is an accidental actress, who has mand to find work that aligns with her outlook.

I define myself as a writer who occasionally acts and I've written a book, Close to Bone', about my unusual journey and never aspired to be in front of camera, I think I've mand to find work that is aligned with my outlook.