People Thought I Was South Indian

Image was shared on Instagram. (Image courtesy: jyotika)

Actress Jyotika, one of the biggest names in Tamil cinema, began her career in Bollywood with Doli Saja Ke Rakhna in 1998 alongside Akshaye Khanna. Soon after, she tried her hand at Tamil and Telugu films and rose in the ranks to be one of the biggest names in South Indian cinema. During this time, the actress was absent from the Hindi film scene, only to return with Shaitaan in 2024, which was a blockbuster. When asked why she had not done any Bollywood film for so long, Jyotika told News18 Showsha that she was not offered any role. She shared: “I didn’t have any filmmaker reaching out to me from Bollywood in all these years. I didn’t receive an offer from Hindi films even once. I drifted into South films 27 years ago and have only worked in South films ever since. My first Hindi film didn’t run well in theatres. It’s all very formula-based. Your first film needs to run for you to get more offers.”

“When I started my career, there was an entire bandwagon of girls working with big production houses. Even my film was produced by a big banner but as fate would have it, it didn’t run. Luckily, I had signed a south film and diverted from Bollywood,” Jyotika reflected, adding: “I would also like to bring it to notice that even that film didn’t work at the box office. But I got a lot of films based on how my performance in it was received. That stark difference between both industries was definitely there.”

Deciphering why she did not receive Bollywood offers despite achieving massive stardom down south, Jyotika said: “People in Bollywood also thought that I was a south Indian and they assumed that I don’t want to do Hindi films anymore. It was a journey and I’m still grateful about it. I did some fabulous work there. It’s not like I refrained from doing a Hindi film. It’s just that I wasn’t offered any script in so many years.” 

Jyotika is married to superstar Suriya. She is known for her work in films such as Ponmagal Vandhal, Seetha Kalyanam, 36 Vayadhinile, Mozhi, Kaakha Kaakha, Sillunu Oru Kadhal and Pachaikili Muthucharam. After the success of Shaitaan, Jyotika will be seen in another Bollywood project, Srikanth. The film, headlined by Rajkummar Rao, will be released on May 10.