Why is marriage a taboo in Ollywood?

Do the Odia audience accept their heroines if they have a touch of vermillion on their forehead? The answer is definitely a ‘no.’ It seems that marriage is a taboo for a heroine in Ollywood.
Compare this with Bollywood and the likes of Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, Malaika Arora Khan and Chitrangada Singh, who have never allowed marriage to come in the way of their career. If Bollywood directors don’t have any issues with the marital status of their heroines? why are Ollywood directors so different? “I think, marital status is an issue for heroines all over India.But there are exceptions. Actually the audience become less interested in married heroines and their attitude discourages us from taking them as the female lead in our movies. It has been difficult for the Odia heroines to make a comeback after their marriages. Glamour is a very important factor for a heroine to have a successful career.
Unfortunately, when a heroine gets married, she loses her charm to attract the audience we cater to,” says director Prasant Nanda. But how is it that Bollywood heroines and even those in Tollywood manage to woo the audience despite walking down the aisle? “The audience in Odisha wants the heroine to be their dreamgirl. They just can’t accept their dreamgirl to be married. So, being a director one has to definitely keep the audience’s perception in mind. But, if the subject and the character demands, there is no option other than casting a married actor like Rituparna Sengupta or Swastika Mukherjee in our films,” says director Raju Mishra.
Female actors have their own take on the issue. Some agree that hectic lifestyle of a star and increasing responsibilities often keep them away from acting after marriage. “The decision of going back onscreen after marriage varies from person to person. As in my case, though I had some film offers after my marriage, I didn’t accept them thinking it would hamper my family life. However, now I am open to films,” says Mama Mishra, adding, “If a heroine maintains her figure post-marriage, I don’t think there should be any problem for her to play the lead.”
According to actor Meghna Mishra, “I don’t think marriage is actually an issue if one maintains an hourglass figure. In my case, I left acting because of my education and business. It has nothing to do with my marital status. In Bollywood, there are directors who has no qualms about casting married heroines. But Odia directors and producers are not willing to take any risk. If I get any lucrative offer, I’m interested to stage a comeback.”
Maybe, it’s time for Ollywood to follow the footsteps of its Bollywood counterparts.
Jyoti Prakash Naik