Karisma Kapoor is set to make her OTT debut with the crime thriller series 'Brown', and the actress reveals that what drew her most to the project was its deeply imperfect lead character, Rita Brown. This role is worlds apart from the glamorous and polished characters typically seen on screen. Interestingly, Kapoor also opens up about how she nearly walked away from the project before finally coming on board.
Karisma Kapoor on Why She Initially Said No to 'Brown'
As reported in Variety India, Karisma said, 'I initially said no to Brown. They told me we would have to shoot in Kolkata for 50 or 60 days. I said, firstly, I don't do much work. Secondly, there's no way I'm going for so many days. Once I heard the character, I just couldn't say no. She's a woman who's literally broken. She's raw and vulnerable, but she also has beautiful shades.'
Karisma Kapoor on Portraying Rita Brown Without Glamour
She reveals that the team was fully committed to portraying Rita in the most raw and unglamorous way possible. 'It was very clear what director Abhinay Deo wanted me to portray. From her body language to the way she looks without makeup, right down to her lips turning purple from smoking too much, everything was carefully thought out.' The actress also acknowledges that there has been a significant change in the way stories are being told, both globally and in India, with female characters now being written with far greater depth and complexity than before. 'Not only is there a global shift, but we're finally showing complete human beings. We're not showing just one aspect of a person. We're showing what somebody can actually go through and whether they survive that or not.'
Karisma Kapoor on the Rise of Complex Female Leads in Cinema
While Karisma's career has been largely defined by her blockbuster entertainers such as 'Biwi No. 1', 'Raja Hindustani', and 'Hero No. 1', she has also proven her mettle with powerful and meaningful roles in films like 'Fiza', 'Zubeidaa', and 'Shakti: The Power'. For her, the growing presence of morally complex female leads in cinema signals a truly exciting new chapter in storytelling. She shares, 'I think it's a great time in filmmaking and cinema when such interesting characters are being written. They're roles that female actors can really sink their teeth into and enjoy because they're allowed to be totally human.'
Karisma Kapoor Says Strong Female Characters Are Not a New Phenomenon
The actress, however, pushes back on the idea that strong female characters are a recent phenomenon in Indian cinema. 'We cannot say that there haven't been strong characters in Hindi cinema. I would say from Mother India to now, there have been so many. Each generation, each decade has had certain very strong characters. Maybe we are seeing a very different human side today, which we can explore on OTT platforms today,' she says. She adds, 'Even if you take me for example, there was Fiza, a girl, a determined girl looking for her brother, the loved brother and sister. Or even if you see a film like Biwi No. 1, which is in a fun space. These all have been determined women in their own way. Shakti, for that matter. She was a woman fighting to get her child back or Zubeidaa, which would be called a biopic. It was made back then in the 2000s.'
