Shefali Shah says she will play only age-appropriate roles, not a mother to older actors anymore

The National Award-winning actor Shefali Shah is one of the few female actors to lead films and shows in her 40s. But her journey in the industry has not been all rosy. She has played the roles of a mother to actors, who are as old as her or older. In an interview recently, the actor said she would not do such roles again but has no issues with other actors playing such characters. 

Shah played the role of a mother to Akshay Kumar in the film Waqt: The Race Against Time. Shefali played mother to Akshay Kumar, who is five years older than her. During the time of the 2005 film, she was just 32 years old and Akshay Kumar was 37. Shah has also played the role of a mother to Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh, who are only a few years younger than her. 

She told the Times of India that it's an actor's choice to play a character and that nobody is making them act at gunpoint, despite the age gap. She further said that she does not have any problems, doing supporting roles of a mother as long as it has a good character arc. "In the past, I have played mother to a person much older than me. But at this point, I want to say, listen, I don’t want to look younger than my age. I do have children who are 18 and 19, so I am comfortable playing a character like that. But I don’t want to play a mother to 25, 30, or 40-year-olds anymore," she said.

But earlier, she had defended her role in Waqt during a conversation with Pinkvilla. She said she believes the joy of being an actor is to get to play the roles that you are not. "It could be caste, creed, colour, sex, and age falls into the same bracket. So I didn't see what was the big deal. I mean that was the exciting part, being somebody I am not," she had said.

Meanwhile, the actor is now gearing up for the release of the film Jalsa, alongside Vidya Balan. Shefali Shah plays the role of a mother, whose daughter gets killed while Vidya Balan plays a journalist who is doing an investigating story about the case. The film is directed by Suresh Triveni and will be out on Amazon Prime Video on March 18.