It is an exciting time for female artists in cinema, believes actor Huma Qureshi, who says there has been an interesting "shift" in the way storytellers are approaching women characters on screen. According to the Huma, known for films such as "Gangs of Wasseypur", "Badlapur", "Monica, O My Darling" and OTT shows "Leila" and "Maharani", female actors are now keen on playing well-rounded characters. "In recent years, we are seeing more such (women-centric) films, the new term is female-led films. For me, it is not the female-led films that are creating a sense of empowerment. Today, when I read a script, the character of the girl is not just contributing towards the hero's journey or is not someone waiting for the war hero to return home. "Rather, we think why can't a girl go on the border? So, that shift in the way we are approaching stories, storytelling has come about.

There are many other colleagues of mine, who are saying give us more to do," the 36-year-old actor said here on Friday. She was participating in a panel discussion on 'The role of media and entertainment in empowering women'. The conversation was part of a special segment 'Her Story, Her Voice' organised by Netflix and the National Commission of Women. Huma said Alia Bhatt's "Darlings", a dark comedy, and the 2020 drama "Thappad", headlined by Taapsee Pannu, are some of her recent favourite films that broke the stereotypes in terms of storytelling "When I saw that film ('Thappad'), I was like, I wish I had done the film but Taapsee did a wonderful job and Anubhav (Sinha, director) sir directed a beautiful film," she said. The love and appreciation "Thappad", also starring Pavail Gulati, Kumud Mishra, Dia Mirza, and Ratna Pathak Shah, received from audiences made her happy. "In a country where domestic violence is quite prevalent to talk and fight about, one 'Thappad' in itself and we know how conventional theatrical business runs, like who will watch this film?