Actors Who Chose To Break The Stereotype By Acting In OTT

Meet actors who chose the break the stereotype via OTT streaming platforms. Shweta Tiwari, Asha Negi, and Divyanka Tripathi, who are known for their super bahu characters, choose to break the stereotype by acting in strong roles away from the general entertainment channels.

Female characters in Indian soap operas have traditionally been portrayed as being compelled and terrified by their mother-in-laws, as an impoverished lady who faces new challenges every day. We sympathise with these characters at times and laugh at them at others, but these soap queens always have something to draw us as viewers. As a result, the actors who play these stereotypical Adarsh Bahu roles were typecast on the small screen.

However, when these actors were given the opportunity to act in OTT series or shows, they chose to play new and distinct characters. Here are some of the best TV female actors who deviated from their stereotyped bahu roles and the series in which they appeared.

Some of these best TV female actors and their series are:

1. Shweta Tiwari in Hum Tum Aur Them

Shweta Tiwari in Hum Tum Aur Them

Hum Tum Aur Them was web series produced by Balaji Telefilms which featured Shweta Tiwari, Akshay Oberoi, and Trupti Khamkar. It was launched on Zee5 and with this series Shweta Tiwari made her digital debut in 2019.

Tiwari is a well-known face on Indian television; she has been in a number of series and programmes, but her Bahu image as Prerna Bajaj in Kasuati Zindagi Ki is legendary. Her OTT debut defied her normal bahu image, as she cut her long hair and also did intimate sequences with Oberoi. She also published an emotional statement on her Instagram account about how Hum Tum and Them forced her to step outside of her comfort zone. In the article, Shweta talks about stretching her limits and thanks creator Ekta Kapoor and producer Deeya Singh for entrusting her with Shiva.

The narrative of Yudi and Shiva is told in the film Hum Tum Aur Them. Both are single parents looking for love in the same person. They want to persuade their children about their relationship, but the kids aren't ready. This web series' plot revolved around Yudi and Shiva's ability to persuade their children.

2. Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya in Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala

Divyanka Tripathi in Coldd Lassi and Chicken Masala

Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya and Rajeev Khandelwal feature in the Indian romantic comedy web series Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala. Nitya and Vikram, two hotel management students who subsequently become chefs, are the central characters in the plot. It is Tripathi's first appearance in the digital medium, and it is produced by AltBalaji for Zee5.

From Banoo Main Teri Dulhann to Yeh Hai Mohabbatien, Divyanka Tripathi has captured hearts with her super bahu roles on television. In her digital debut, she was seen in a completely new style and persona. Nitya, played by Tripathi, was a perfectionist in every sense of the word, with great goals unconstrained by traditions, customs, or other superstitions.

Suggested Reading: Women and Bras : Dear Society What’s It with your Moral Policing?

3. Karishma Tanna in Bullets

Karishma Tanna in Bullets

Bullets is a web series directed by Devang Dholakia that is set in India. Sunny Leone, Karishma Tanna, Vivek Vaswani, and Amaan F. Khan star in the series.  The series premiered on MX Player in 2021. In the series, her character Lolo was the polar opposite, as Laxmi alias Lolo was a lady on a quest to expose Korade's secret lethal plan.

She made her acting debut in 2001 with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and has since continued to play traditional bahu characters in films such as Naagin 3 and Qayamat Ki Raat. She also appeared in Rajkumar Hirani's Sanju, a biography of Sanjay Dutt, in a minor but significant part. She made her digital debut the same year with ALT Balaji's web series Karrle Tu Bhi Mohabbat.

4.Asha Negi in Baarish

Baarish, a 2019 Hindi web series made by Ekta Kapoor for ALTBalaji & ZEE5. The characters are Asha Negi and Sharman Joshi, and the series revolves around and explores their lives.

The film Baarish tells the story of Gauravi, a middle-class Marathi girl, and Anuj Mehta (Sharman Joshi), the owner of Mehta Diamonds, who fall in love unconditionally.

In contrast to daily operas, Asha's character is not a bahu and the story is around a romantic relationship that is dreamy, old school, and passionate, filled with softly stolen glances and unspoken words that transmit a gazillion burning emotions of love, passion, and wholeness.

Purvi Deshmukh in Pavitra Rishta and Gauravi Mehta in Baarish are two of her most well-known roles. In 2010, Negi made her television debut as Madhura in Sapnon Se Bhare Naina and later as Apeksha Malhotra in Ekta Kapoor's Bade Achhe Lagte Haiin.

5.  Aamna Sharif and Renu Parikh in Damaged 3

Sharif and Parikh in Damaged 3

Ekant Babani is the director of the series, which will air on ALT Balaji on January 2022. Rashmi, a cop, and Shanaya, a journalist, are the central characters in Damaged 3. Shanaya meets Rashmi while looking for a truly ground-breaking story, and the two women have a love-hate relationship while a larger truth emerges from their quest. Shrenu Parikh  portrays a journalist, while Aamna Sharif plays a headstrong cop in the series. Their characters have a variety of shades, which will made the audience fall in love with them.

Both performers are well-known in the daily soap industry and are well-liked in their bahu roles. Aamna Sharif began her acting career on television with the show Kahiin to Hoga in 2003. She has since appeared in shows like Hongey Judaa Na Hum, Ek Thhi Naayika, and Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2, as well as films like Aloo Chaat, Shakal Pe Mat Ja, and Ek Villain, among others, while Parekh has appeared in Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon - Ek Baar Phir and Byaah Hamari Bahoo Ka.

However, Sharif as Komolika in Kasauti Zindangi Key and Parikh in Ek Bhram...Sarvagun Sampanna, both of which were well-received by audiences, tried grey colours on the silver screen.