Riya Sen Shares Her Ordeal Of Being Sexualised At The Age Of 16; Says, 'Found Myself Very Uneasy, Very Uncomfortable'
Riya Sen reveals leaving Bollywood because of getting sexualised from the age of 16; says tags like 'sexy and bold' made her felt uncomfortable
There was a time when we used to see the Sen sisters, especially Riya Sen, in a lot of Bollywood films. She entered the world of showbiz at a very young age. However, Riya has now bid farewell to B-town, the reason behind which is quite disturbing. In an interview with PTI, Riya Sen revealed how people made her felt horrible by giving her the tag of 'sexy' and 'bold' at the age of 16. The actor revealed that success made her happy during the initial days, but as time passed Riya felt uncomfortable doing glamorous roles and everyone's expectations of her looking sensuous in every film she was a part of, too, added on to it.
Riya was quoted as saying, "I realised some of the films I did, after a few hits that I had, they weren’t working for me because I wasn’t comfortable in the roles I was playing. That’s why probably people thought I was a bad actress and I don’t blame them. At that point when I did a lot of Bollywood movies, it was about being sexy, the clothes that you wear, the makeup that you do. I didn’t fit into that." She added, "Getting those tags (sexy, bold), it was just terrible, horrible. Living with that... I was in school when the tag of ‘sexy’ started coming way. There was so much pressure to always look perfect, a certain way."
"Even when I went out, people had this perception that Oh Riya Sen because they feel what you’re on screen, you’re the same in real life," she continued.
Well, soon came a time when the actor reached a saturation point. "Everyone wants to be glamorous, no doubt, but I was so young when I came here. I was doing all these 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 every day, 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," said Riya.
Riya soon shifted her focus on the Bengali cinema and she has been a part of some acclaimed films like Jaatishwar, Hero 420 and Noukadubi among others.
image source: instagram/riyasendv