Isha Koppikar Poised For A Comeback In Ram Gopal Varma’s Webseries, Discusses Bollywood Post-MeToo

The  talented  Isha Koppikar who made  her  screen debut 21 years  ago in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada cinema shot to  fame in Bollywood  with her  ‘item’ song in Ram Gopal Varma’s  Company.

After a voluntary break  when she married and became  a mother, Isha is back in the  limelight , and  it’s Ram Gopal Varma  again.

“Small world,” she  laughs as she discusses  the  film industry’s  mutating morals  during the time she was  away. “Ram Gopal Varma  has offered  me  a web series where I’ve a lot  more to do than I did when we  first got together(in Company).That  was  just a song and  dance called Khallas which became a rage.  Sadly  I was offered  many so-called item songs after that. I turned down most  of  them. I Ramu’s series  I am playing a cop ….again.Mine is one  of  the  central characters  in the series , like the  cop in the American series Narcos. I  played   a cop in my last two films Looty and Kavacha  both in Kannada. Maybe I  was a cop in my last  life. I  should change my name  to Isha  Cop-ikkar, ha ha.”

How has show world changed while Isha has been  away  looking after her  own world?

“The atmosphere is  far  less  toxic. There’s no hanky-panky on the sets, no unnecessary talk .When I came in things were very different  . Girls were  asked to ‘compromise’ and some  of them had no choice but to do so because they came from humble backgrounds.I didn’t have  to do it.  I  had  solid familial support behind  me. I was neither  financially nor emotionally insecure.  But what  about those girls who had no security at all and were  asked  to compromise? It  was  a  really sad  scenario,”  says  Isha.

She sees  everyone   being more professional now. “The new generation is  so much more focused  on their work.I lost  a  lot of good work because I wasn’t willing to  compromise with my values.I was  only 23 then. But I knew what I  wanted from  my life.And  I didn’t believe in  short cuts.”