In a recent candid interview with the media, Nora Fatehi opened up about her career and the casting decisions prevalent in the film industry. She firmly asserted that her remarkable dancing skills are not the reason behind her absence in lead roles. Instead, she shed light on the industry’s tendency to limit its options by repeatedly favoring a select few actresses for their projects. While Nora made her acting debut in 2020 with “Street Dancer 3D,” she is most renowned for her electrifying dance performances in chart-topping songs like “O Saki Saki” from “Batla House” and “Manike” from “Thank God,” among others.
Though Nora refrained from naming specific individuals, she hinted that her struggle to secure leading roles stems from the industry’s reluctance to venture beyond familiar faces. She emphasized that only a handful of actresses dominate the industry, and filmmakers seem hesitant to explore fresh talent. Nora shared, “I don’t think because I dance is why they don’t want to cast me. Our main iconic heroines in Bollywood have been dancers who perform beautifully. And they excel in dance numbers, right? That was just a part of the package of being like an iconic heroine. I don’t think it was because of that. I think it was always, oh, I don’t know. It’s almost like let’s see who will take the chance on her [on me] and if she delivers in all the categories, meaning, the acting skills, the presence, the aura, the ability to express the language skill, then we’ll all jump on the opportunity. So I think it was who would have got the b**** to do it first, to take a chance on me first. I think that was what everyone was waiting for,” Nora told News18.
Nora underscored the intense competition within the industry, exacerbated by the limited number of films produced annually. Filmmakers tend to stick with the familiar faces they know, often overlooking new talent. Nora stressed the importance of breaking into this exclusive circle of actresses, demonstrating her acting prowess, presence, language proficiency, and overall charisma. She further elaborated, “Today the industry has become very competitive. Let’s be realistic. There are only a few films a year. And sometimes what happens with filmmakers is they don’t think outside of what’s in front of them. So if only four girls are doing films, and they’re going in rotation, and all four are getting projects nonstop, the filmmakers will only remember those four, they won’t think beyond that.”