Dabba Cartel EXCLUSIVE: Jyotika weighs in on growth of Tamil movies in portraying women; ‘Malayalam cinema is way ahead…’

In a chat with Pinkvilla and the Dabba Cartel cast, Jyotika expressed her take on the evolution of Tamil cinema in portraying women, claiming that Malayalam cinema is ahead of others!

By Goutham S

Published on Mar 04, 2025 | 12:22 AM IST | 9.1K

Dabba Cartel EXCLUSIVE: Jyotika weighs in on growth of Tamil movies in portraying women (PC: Pinkvilla)

Jyotika was recently spotted in an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla alongside her Dabba Cartel co-stars. In the enriching conversation, the actress was asked about the changes and evolution of cinema she has witnessed over the years with her illustrious career.

In response, the actress specified how there has been growth in Indian cinema with a combination of parallel cinema and mainstream film, especially with the emergence of OTT. This allows actors to explore more variety in characters, and women are getting more space.

Indulging in South cinema and Tamil films in particular, Jyotika continued, “There is a growth but still a kind of separation exists between mainstream films and so-called ‘women-centric’ films. Like we haven’t explored much into the web series world yet.”

“We might not be getting the same kind of space in a popular hero’s film. I’ve worked predominantly in Tamil but at the same time, Malayalam cinema is way ahead. In Tamil, films are still separate where women get to perform with hardly 1% of movies where it's a hero-led film,” the actress added.

Furthermore, Jyotika added how in Tamil cinema, the writing for characters around a hero is not up to its standards. The actress also explained that with the popularity of OTT, Hindi cinema has managed to evolve into a space where there is an equal space for characters.

She concluded her words by defining how Tamil cinema still needs to combine such aspects while Malayalam cinema is way ahead of everyone else.

Watch the exclusive chat with Dabba Cartel cast here:

Talking about the Dabba Cartel, the web series starring Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Shalini Pandey, Nimisha Sajayan, and many more features the tale of five women who run a dabba service (tiffin service) in Mumbai. However, under the guise of the service, the women run a dangerous drug cartel, rising in the high-stakes world of crime. The series is currently available to stream on Netflix.