Ratna Pathak Shah: 'I have been completely unemployed for a whole year now'

The actress claims she does not use Instagram, which may be one of the reasons she hasn't had a job for the previous 12 months.

Veteran actress Ratna Pathak Shah, who has given us many hits and is the epitome of sophistication as Maya Sarabhai from the cult 'Sarabhai Vs. Sarabhai', revealed that she has been without work for the last year.

The actress, who was seen in the hit web series 'Happy Family: Conditions Apply' last year, says she is not on Instagram, so this could be one of the reasons that she has been jobless for the past year.

She told Brut during her conversation on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, "This culture of hate I cannot understand. Today the focus is on how many Instagram followers you have, is what I have heard. No one has asked me because I am not on Instagram. Maybe I didn't get work because of that. That's also possible; I have been completely unemployed for a whole year now. So these are the kinds of things that do seem to matter a lot."

The actress had in the past spoken about toxic culture in Bollywood back in the 1970s. She had said that things were really bad and were divided according to the class or status of the actor at that time. Even the food provided to the crew and lead actor was completely different.

"In the old days, actors would be treated in very different ways from the crew—number one. Different kinds of actors would be treated very differently depending on their position. To a certain extent, this still exists; aisa nahi hai that it is all hunky dory, but it is less of it. There's less hierarchy visible on a set. Crew and cast are not two completely watertight compartments anymore. There would be different food for the star and bilkul alag khana for the crew and cast," she told Brut.

Ratna said she was happy that it didn't exist to an extent, but not everything has changed in the industry. But she felt it had come down, but the push for tighter budgets has led to actors being pushed and asked to put in long hours.

"And many more skilled people on a set, from the dressmaker all the way to first AD people do everything. Less time is wasted, therefore. Tighter budgets, therefore tighter shoots. But there is another problem: because of the tight budget, working hours are ridiculously long. And for actors, it is a 12-hour shift. And if you need hair and make-up, then you are required to arrive early and also leave later," she said.

She also spoke about the myths that people have about Bollywood, saying that it is glam. She said Bollywood is everything besides just being glam.

Ratna Pathak Shah was at Cannes for the special screening of her husband Naseeruddin Shah's iconic movie 'Manthan'. She also walked the red carpet with Naseer and Smita Patil's son, Prateik Babbar.