Comedy may be one of the most popular film genres, but actress Fatima Sana Shaikh believes that women still don’t get enough space to shine in it. The actor has pointed out that female characters in comedies are often limited to stereotypes, with little room for growth or varied performances.
talking with Variety IndiaFatima discusses how the comedy space has changed over the years and why she feels there is a need for more light-hearted films and better-written roles for women.
For Fatima Sana Shaikh, the issue is not just the number of comedies, but also the type of female characters being written. She feels that women are often used as part of the joke instead of being given characters with their own stories and personalities. He also pointed to women’s appearance, sexuality and the general use of insults as an easy source of humor.
“Slapstick is always sexist,” she said, agreeing that comedy can be funny without making women the butt of every joke.
Fatima Sana Shaikh also feels that the industry has moved away from the kind of light films that once gave actors more freedom to experiment. “We need good comedy shows. We tend towards thrillers and dark films. And we are getting only such films. Generally, light films are not being made these days,” he said.
Looking back on the 1990s and 2000s, Fatima Sana Shaikh believes that actresses had more variety in the characters they could play. He named Vidya Balan and Juhi Chawla while talking about actresses who have a strong sense of comedy.
“Vidya Balan’s comic timing is amazing. Juhi Chawla is also amazing. Back then, there were still different roles that every actor played. Now, everyone is boxed into a way of looking, being or playing roles. Everything is one-dimensional,” he said.
He also recalled how actresses like Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla and Preity Zinta were introduced on screen, not only in terms of their looks but also their acting style.
Fatima shared, “Madhuri (Dixit) was completely different from Juhi (Chawla). And Preity Zinta was completely different. Not only aesthetically, their performances were different too.”
Fatima Sana Shaikh’s comments also touch on how family audiences used to have more options when it came to comedy. He referred to his last light-hearted film, Just like youAs an example and feels that movies today have become more adult-oriented.
“My last light film was Just like you. It was a PG-13 movie. Even before that, the comedy was PG-13. Be it Amrish Puri or Om Puri’s comedy. They played different characters that were palatable to a family. We could all go to a theater and watch movies. Now most of the films are also A-rated.”
Fatima Sana Sheikh’s latest project, Pride: Rowr, was released on JioHotstar on September 25. The show also stars Aneet Padda, Raghubir Yadav, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub and Arjun Mathur in important roles.
Also Read | NDTV Yuva 2026: Fatima Sana Shaikh reacts to 570% hike in entertainment tax for AC multiplexes