New Delhi: Hema Malini says there is a dearth of opportunities for older actresses in Hindi films, unlike in Hollywood, where quality roles get written for female stars of all ages. Malini, who has starred in more than 150 films, feels she can still play a variety of characters on screen but feels quality roles are hard to come by. “Internationally, such beautiful films are made with elderly actresses but that doesn’t happen here. They don’t want to invest money because filmmaking is too expensive so why would they risk it with me? That’s the problem. No one comes to me with [good roles],” the 67-year-old actress told PTI. “Meryl Streep is doing fantastic work. She is of my age. I can also do so many things but I need opportunities for that,” she added. The actress, who is the BJP MP from Mathura, was last seen on the big screen in a guest appearance in Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Aarakshan in 2011. She will now be seen in Ramesh Sippy’s upcoming production Shimla Mirchi, which also stars Rajkummar Rao and Rakul Preet Singh. “It is a sweet comedy and I had fun doing the film. I say yes when interesting roles come up and I thought this part was really nice so I agreed to be a part of it.” Malini, meanwhile, has entered new territory: singing. Her debut album, Dream Girl, is composed by Babul Supriyo and features their duet, Aji suniye to zara, kya hai manjra. The album also has two Bengali songs, which Malini had originally recorded for Kishore Kumar.
“I never thought I would sing professionally but it so happened that I made Babul hear a Bengali song I had sung many years ago. He thought I should sing and bring out an album. I readily agreed. I don’t let any opportunity go.” When asked what was the reaction of her family to her songs, Malini said, “My family liked the tracks. Dharam ji [Dharmendra] was surprised to hear me sing. To impress him, I even recorded a ghazal and made him hear that. He said, ‘I never knew you sing so well’. I said that now whenever you write a ghazal next, I will sing.”
