India, May 22 -- Vidya Balan, who is known for acing women-centric films, feels that post-pandemic, the studios are feeling the pinch financially and hence are going back to the safer bet of choosing male-led films.

(Also read: Vidya Balan calls out AI-generated content featuring her: 'It does not reflect my views or work')

In a recent interview with Deadline, Vidya opened up about her illustrious career and making a niche for herself by choosing films which have strong and layered female characters. However, when the actor was starting her acting journey, she didn't have the luxury of choice as such characters were simply not being written.

"There was no question of strategising (to play strong characters) because one had never really...