Bollywood is far from a level-playing field. Yami Gautam, who is currently promoting Bala, brings out a facet of the discrimination prevalent in the industry. The actor argues that Hindi cinema has a tendency to stereotype female actors.

"The pre-requisite relies on a set standard of beauty. For the longest time, movies used to promote a stereotypical version of women, who would fit into two broad moulds - good and bad. The emphasis was never on authenticity. The characters were painted in broad strokes, which is why a script like Bala appealed to me," says Gautam, who plays a small-town TikTok star. The Amar Kaushik-directed movie also touches on India’s obsession with fair-skinned women, through Bhumi Pednekar’s character. "Such women characters haven’t been represented on screen before. These roles have an aspirational value attached to them, and yet, they are real."