Priya Mani recalls how married women only got ‘sister-in-law’ or ‘character roles’

South actress Priya Mani recently received a lot of love for her role as Manoj Bajpayee’s wife Suchi in The Family Man. The actress revealed how the image of married women has been gradually changing. Earlier, married women on a maternity break would make a comeback with sister-in-law and character roles but now the image has been changing.

In an interview with News18, Priya Mani said, “Initially, I used to wonder if the industry would accept me after I get married,” she said and continued, “It used to happen earlier in the south industries… When married heroines after giving time to their families would get back to work following a hiatus of a year or two, they didn’t get lead roles. They would probably get parts of a sister-in-law or character roles.”

She added, “Now, people are accepting married women as well to play leads and main characters as opposed to cameos. Such parts are beautifully written and so, there’s nothing to complain.”

“I’m happy that the industry and more so the audience have accepted the fact that marriage doesn’t put an end to a heroine’s career. Having said that, I feel that maybe marriage is an added responsibility on the girl’s side to see to it that the role is proper and there’s no awkwardness onscreen because she’s answerable to her in-laws,” she concluded.