Bollywood actor Divya Dutta, who played the role of Shabina Ibrahim, the best friend of Preity Zinta in Veer Zaara, recently revealed that she initially feared the role might typecast her as the perennial “heroine's best friend”. “I was sitting at the movie's premiere holding my mother's hand. It's a Yash Chopra film, so the whole world would be watching it. I enjoyed it a lot. But, at the same time, I was worried I would be stereotyped as the best friend of all heroines in the industry. There is a herd mentality in our industry. Everyone runs after the one who looks good and leaves the rest behind,” she said during a chat with Siddharth Kannan.
She continued, “At the time of the movie's interval, I ran away holding my mother's hand. Mumma said she was very proud of me for the performance. I said, ‘Thank you, Mumma, even I am loving being a part of this film.' When we stepped out, I hid a little behind her. I didn't want to hear any friend calling me because my dream was to become a ‘Yash Chopra heroine'. While I was hiding there, Yash uncle saw me and called me over. As I went up to him, I was crowded and surrounded by people.”
In Veer-Zaara, Divya Dutta played the role of Shabbo, Zaara's (Preity Zinta) friend. The 2004 film also featured Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan in prominent roles. In addition to Veer-Zaara, Divya Dutta and Shah Rukh Khan worked together in Baadshah, Shakti: The Power and Silsiilay.