Lara Dutta on ageism: Gone are the days when actresses didn't get roles after 35

Lara Dutta said in her career of more than 15 years, she feels she has "just started having fun". The actor also feels with the emergence of OTT platforms there are exciting characters being written for women of all ages.

Mumbai: Actor Lara Dutta says she is in her "most fun" professional phase right now, courtesy the ever-evolving digital content which offers exciting characters to women of all ages.

Lara said with the arrival of the streaming platforms, quality content has found its way.

"Age is liberating. Now that I'm in my 40s, I think you tend to care a lot less about in life. You stop taking yourself too seriously. Right now it's a fantastic time to be an actor in the medium right now. There are so many opportunities.

"Gone are the days when people said once an actress crosses the age of 35, gets married, the roles don't come in. There's great quality of work because there's massive demand, especially online. There are ample roles for women of all ages. You are getting your hands on characters which are so well written," Lara told PTI.

The actor has made her digital debut with Hundred.

Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar VIP, the eight-episode comedy-action series chronicles the misadventures of two women of contrasting natures, set in the backdrop of Mumbai, its chawls and crime gangs. It also features Sairat star Rinku Rajguru.

Lara said in her career of more than 15 years, she feels she has "just started having fun".

"Now I'm actually able to live out the reason why I got into this business in the first place. I never stepped into Bollywood wanting to be a star. I wanted to be an actor. It's a very different Lara on the show and you can see I'm having so much fun."

The former Miss Universe said the process of coming on board for Hundred was organic.

Though she watches a lot of films and shows online, she never went out of her way to be in one, she added.

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"I love the medium. But I never actively went out saying I'm looking for a show, a role and to crossover. This happened completely organically. I have known Ruchi Narain (co-director, 'Hundred') for many years now as a friend. She called me to ask if I can take a look at the show, completely out of the blue."

Hundred follows the story of a terminally-ill woman (Rinku) looking for thrills who is hired to be an undercover agent by an ambitious female cop, played by Lara, looking for a promotion. As they both unite to accomplish their own goal in 100 days, chaos ensues.

The 42-year-old actor said the show offered her a chance to play a cop for the first time and one, that's equal parts funny and flawed.

"The female characters on web are far more layered. I loved the fact that she was a cop but slightly different than the ones we are accustomed to seeing - the vigilantes, with guns who get the bad guys and change society.

"Here she's bada**, flawed and ambitious. Add to that the combination of Rinku and I coming together. That's a mad mix," she added.

With inputs from PTI