Entertainment

IIE DIGITAL DESK: Malayalam actress Swasika has stirred conversation by publicly refusing an offer to play the mother of Telugu superstar Ram Charan in the high-budget film Peddi. The 33-year-old performer, who is actually younger than Charan by seven years, told reporters she has been repeatedly offered “mother” roles but firmly declined this particular part, saying such roles do not fit where she is in her career at the moment and that she might consider them later in life. 

According to the report, Swasika stood by her decision despite repeated approaches from the film team. Peddi, directed by Buchi Babu Sana, is one of the industry’s most talked-about projects and features Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor in lead roles, with A.R. Rahman composing the music and Kannada star Shiva Rajkumar in a key role—details that underline why the offer would have been tempting from a profile and visibility standpoint. 

Swasika’s refusal touches on a wider pattern in Indian cinema where actresses, particularly as they cross their late twenties and thirties, are often fast-tracked into maternal or older character parts regardless of their onscreen parity with male co-stars. By declining the role, she framed the choice as one about career trajectory and self-perception rather than a slight against the project itself, and the move has been received as an assertion of agency over the kinds of parts she wants to play next. 

The actress, who gained attention after last year’s Tamil hit Lubber Pandhu, also has an upcoming role opposite superstar Suriya in Karuppu, signaling that she continues to pursue leading and varied characters rather than early typecasting. Industry observers say the incident highlights changing dynamics, with younger actresses increasingly willing to reject high-profile offers that they feel would prematurely anchor them into narrower screen personas. 

Swasika’s decision to turn down Peddi is a personal and professional statement about timing and image management in a film industry where age and role expectations often collide. Whether producers will rethink casting practices in response remains to be seen, but the actress’s stance has already sharpened the ongoing conversation about roles, respect and representation.