Great to see beauty standards in cinema evolving: Vijetha Vasist

I come from a film family, but one that insists that an individual must work his or her way up from scratch to get to where he or she wants to be,” says actor Vijetha Vasist, who adds, “Working my way up and learning from my own mistakes has made me strong, resilient and more confident about my choices and my dreams.” Set for a debut in the Tamil film industry, with Reload — a part of an anthology in which she stars opposite Bharath Bopanna — Vijetha, who is the daughter of Kannada film director AMR Ramesh, tells us, “I may not look like your typical heroine; all I know is, from the time I can remember, all I wanted was to be an actor. I couldn’t imagine myself in a 9 to 5 job. What I wanted was to be immersed in playing characters on screen — hours and hours on the sets is not a concern. I love being on the sets.”
‘I HAVE GROWN UP ON SETS, IT’S WHERE I FEEL AT HOME’ The young actress tells us that all her choices so far have been focused on her dream. “I have grown up on sets. My dad also shot some of the scenes of his film, Cyanide, right at home. I chose to pursue acting at a theatre institute in Mysuru, called Rangayana, and went on to assist on the sets before I began my career as an actor. It was at Rangayana that I was even more sure of my decision. It helped me understand that this is what I wanted to wake up and do on every single day of my life,” says Vijetha.
‘MY DUSKY COMPLEXION IS STILL SUBJECTED TO JUDGEMENT’ She, however, adds that the journey thereafter, albeit short, has not been without its share of struggles and frustrations already. “I do understand that I do not fit into the stereotype of a typical actress. My complexion is dusky, for instance, and being judged for that is hardly new anymore. There have been so many occasions when people have called me in to discuss a role and have not even given me a shot at an audition, because I did not fit into their perception of an actress. However, I do also see that beauty standards across film industries are changing and I am glad for that.”
‘TODAY, THE LANDSCAPE OF FEMALE LEADS IS CHANGING’ “Today, we see a lot more successful female actors, who do not fit into that stereotype of the typical heroine. I am confident that there are many stories that I will fit into, just the way I am,” explains Vijetha. In the meantime, she is also set to create work for herself. “I have written two scripts and I am keen on taking that forward and presenting them on the big screen at some point,” she says.