She has been sensual and subservient, rustic and cosmopolitan. She is as much at ease in a lavish BBC series as she is in her latest, a Hindi horror comedy blockbuster where she plays a ghost
It is a metaphor for many young women in Bollywood now who are slowly overcoming their fears, choosing to expand their art rather than stay in the groove
TCA Raghavan is a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore. His first book, Attendant Lords: Abdur Rahim and Bairam Khan: Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India, was awarded the Mohammad Habib Prize by the Indian History Congress. He is also the author of The People Next Door: The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan and History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G S Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and Their Quest for India’s Past. His latest book is Circles of Freedom: Love, Friendship and Loyalty in the Indian National Struggle