Women-centric films have moved from offbeat to mainstream: Kangana

From her debut with "Gangster - A Love Story" in 2006 to playing effective roles in films like "Fashion", "Queen" and "Tanu Weds Manu", actress Kangana Ranaut is known for portraying women-centric characters on screen. She says the wave of feminism in Bollywood has moved from offbeat to mainstream.

"The film industry has seen a good response from women oriented stories. My first film 'Gangster' was a woman-centric film. The woman was the protagonist. So was 'Woh Lamhe', but they were not given big platforms," Kangana recalled.

"Now after films like 'Queen', 'The Dirty Picture' and 'Kahaani', these films are being given very big platforms and they have been considered the mainstream cinema," Kangana told IANS in an interview.

"Their directors are being awarded at various shows, but earlier they weren't a part of the mainstream... they were considered as offbeat cinema makers," she said.

The National Award winning actress also pointed out that once upon a time, only "item numbers, comedy and action" were considered mainstream in Bollywood.

"But now women-centric films have seen a good growth... it's an achievement," she said.

Kangana will next be seen in director Nikhil Advani's "Katti Batti" along with Imran Khan. The comedy thriller will release on Friday.