ACTOR Chhaya Kadam, who has been steadily building her body of work for years, says the recognition following the success of Laapataa Ladies and Madgaon Express opened doors to more varied roles. The actor, who predominantly appears in Marathi and Hindi films, has garnered appreciation from critics and audiences for her performance in movies like Fandry, Sairat, Nude, Jhund, Laapataa Ladies, Madgaon Express, and All We Imagine as Light, which won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. "From the beginning, when I did my first play, I wanted to do something different. Like, when I used to watch Shabana Azmi and Smita Patel's work, I used to think, 'This is such an amazing work'. I used to enjoy playing such characters, wherein they felt real or I've seen someone or met this p e r s o n , " K a d a m t o l d PTI. "In the beginning, struggle was that I had to find work, meet people. Today, struggle is to choose two good ones from five offers. Maybe the struggle in the future will be something else." The 50-year-old actor recalled that early in her career, she was typecast as a poor, suffering woman with an alcoholic husband. "I did a lot of such roles. At that time, everyone used to tell me 'You have to do something different' and I used to feel the same, but things were not in my hands. "I was like, 'I'm getting work and I've to also run my house'. It's the writer and director should think of casting me in a different kind of a role'. Luckily, in these two-three years, I'm getting different roles to play, even lookwise the characters are different. I'm enjoying it."

 

Kadam has an interesting slate of projects in the pipeline including Maharagni - Queen of Queens alongside Kajol, Gandhari with Taapsee Pannu, and a Marathi movie, Khashaba with Nagraj Manjule. Kadam added that she signed her current slate of diverse films only after Laapataa Ladies and Madgaon Express, which released in a gap of 20 days in March 2024. Her Cannes visibility due to Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light also helped in bringing wider attention to the work she had already been doing for years. "For instance, I was happy when Madgaon Express was offered to me because, until then I've played roles where my husband used to beat me, I would get to wear torn clothes. "But in Madgaon Express, I had sarees designed for me, besides I had to boss around my husband. I also thanked Kunal (Khemu, director) for giving me such a varied role," the actor, who played Kanchan Kombdi, a fierce female gangster, said. Despite the rise in popularity, Kadam said she remains focused on her craft rather than social media metrics. "The number of followers has increased but I don't pay much attention to that. But that doesn't mean that I don't care, it just means that they love me more as an actor. So, my family has grown. (But) I've come to work in the industry because I love it. When I do my work, I feel that I'm the luckiest person in the world," she said. "I want to do something for myself and for my audience who loves me. Hence, I keep trying different things. Sometimes, I pass, sometimes, I fail. Like, I have done a horror-comedy film (Bhootam Bhayam) and it is doing well," she said.