The Rediff Podcast: Divya Dutta, Like You've Never Heard Her Before

In a career that has spanned over 30 years and 200 films, if there is one thing that Divya Dutta has not been -- it’s afraid. And, in her journey, she has made many friends, collected many precious memories which she shares on the Rediff Podcast.

The easiest way to describe Divya Dutta is to let her do it herself.

"In the movies where I had author-backed roles, woh films ya toh choti hoti thi ya toh release hoke zyaada nahi chalti thi (they were either small films or didn't do well at the box office).

"And the big films that I was in, the films that everyone watched, I have beautiful roles but the spotlight wasn't on me; it was on somebody else. I made my own place in that spotlight ke beech mein woh jo ek roshni aati thi, dekho woh bhi dikh rahi hai. Par who bhi achchi hai na (She's there too and she's good isn't she?)," she tells Savera R Someshwar on The Rediff Podcast.

What she does not say is that, even in movies that were panned by critics, they always have something nice to say about her.

Her versatility is proved by the fact that an actor who is considered sweet and chulbuli both in reel and real life won the National Award for playing the antagonist in Irada, a film that released in 2022.

And now, she has Chiraiya, her latest release -- a series that made her the hero, the protagonist -- even as it takes on a topic that most of India would rather pretend does not exist -- marital rape.

Divya is glad that she got to play Kamlesh, a daughter-in-law who learns to fight for the rights of a wife. She is even gladder that this series has opened conversations about a subject that is otherwise considered taboo.

She opens up about her own experience with sexual harassment and why it is so important to speak up.

In a career that has spanned over 30 years and 200 films, if there is one thing that Divya has not been -- it's afraid. And, in her journey, she has made many friends, collected many precious memories which she shares on The Rediff Podcast.

And, in the end, she plays a game. One that proves why Divya Dutta is the Divya Dutta.