She charmed the critics with her portrayal of Shabbo in Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta's Veer-Zaara, but actor Divya Dutta was initially not sure of taking up the part.
During the panel discussion 'Redefining Stories' at the International Film Festival of India 2018 here, the actor, who recently won the National Award for Best Supporting Actress for role in the film Irada, revealed that Yash Chopra-directed film came her way after a couple of multi-starrer projects which she was not proud of.
"Everyone in the industry says yes to you. Nobody says no. They are all very nice to you. I called up home and told them that I have signed 22 films... I waited like for an year and half before I started doing multi-starrers and I wasn't happy doing that.
"I wasn't happy dancing around trees because I wanted to do more. Then my mother just sat me down and said 'What are you waiting for?' I told her something will come my way. She said what if it comes after 25 odd years. she said why don't you do it now. Why don't you take up those roles that are not probably your lead roles but they have so much substance, so much significance."
The actor says she felt it was blasphemous to play a person which is not the lead character when Veer-Zaara came her way. "I thought it was blasphemy to take on friend's role in a Yash Chopra film. But Aditya told me 'You are never going to regret having played Shabbo'. And to date I get love for that film." Dutta said things started to change for her as viewers also recognised her talent.
