Sobhita Dhulipala Reveals That Film Industry Believes Models Are ‘Glam Dolls’ Who ‘Can’t Perform’

Sobhita Dhulipala may not have started her journey as a professional actor, but her talent and dedication to her craft have made her a popular name in the industry. In an interview with PTI, The Made in Heaven actress revealed the film industry’s bias against models and her decision to choose complex and challenging roles.

“When I started out.. I was aware that people know that I come from a modelling background, I was a Miss India. And there is a prejudice against them, that they are glam dolls and they can’t perform.” she said.

Sobhita added that she had a deep respect for the performing arts and looked for roles that gave her more scope to perform as an actor. “So, I was mindful that I should pick parts that allowed me scope for performance. A lot of my initial decisions were driven by that. I have a deep respect for performing arts and I want to do a good job, and be better every day.”

The actress made her Bollywood debut with Anurag Kashyap’s Raman Raghav 2.0 in 2016 and slowly rose to fame with movies like Chef and Kaalakaandi. However, she got her big break with the series Made in Heaven, in which she played the role of a wedding planner. The show aired on Prime Video and enjoyed a good response from the audience.

Sobhita also talked about her experiences while working in the film industry and compared them to the games of Snake and Ladder. She said, “One hit and zoop, you go up. And two flops and boom, you are down. It’s like you are given a certain bunch of cards and you have to play with that. You can’t be ‘Kash mera yeh hota, woh hota’, I don’t find that to be healthy. There is so much for me to be grateful for, so much that has gone right and it is important to remember”

The Ponniyin Selvan actress admitted that initially she had difficulties getting mainstream opportunities and took up the best roles from whatever she was offered, but she believes that it turned out to be an advantage as her diverse roles made her visible to the audience.

Sobhita is currently starring in Disney+ Hotstar’s series ‘The Night Manager’ alongside Aditya Roy Kapur and Anil Kapoor. The first season of the series was released in February and became an instant hit. The second season is set to air on 30th June.