Actress Shahana Goswami feels web shows have ushered better quality of writing, which in turn creates scope for actors like her to prove their versatility.

In her latest show "The Last Hour", Shahana plays a police officer who, along with another male counterpart, sets out to unravel a murder mystery. Did she feel she was a strong female character in the otherwise male-dominated world of the story?

"I think when something is well written, there's a natural balance about the portrayal of each character in it. When I am saying balance, it means we do not need to highlight a character only because he is a male or a female character but giving substantial space for each of them. When it comes to my character in 'The Last Hour', where I play an investigating police officer, it was about the contribution of the character in the narrative. So, no, I did not feel like I am one of the strong females in the men's world," Shahana told IANS.

Starting her film career in 2006, Shahana has mostly made her mark in indie films like "Firaaq", "Mirch", "Midnight's Children", "Tu Hai Mera Sunday" and "Gali Guliyan", and has also featured in mainstream Bollywood entertainers such as "Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.", "Rock On!!" and "Break Ke Baad".

The actress has also featured in web series such as "A Suitable Boy" and "Bombay Begums", where the stories revolved around women. She emphasises on how the web series as a format has opened the door for actors of all ages that was not the scene in films.

"Since writing has taken centre-stage in web shows, every actor is coming by virtue of merit. Since the number of shows and web films has increased, it's not just a few known faces that you see in these shows. I think it is quite a fair ground to play for actors, I do not think it is competitive. Rather, the web space is actually celebrating talent. All that is possible because of good writing that focuses on storytelling instead of the pressure that a film has -- as in within two hours we have to give everything to our audience," she said.

"Here, people will watch it araam se (at leisure). A show can be watched after 15 days or a month of release and feedback of our work can start pouring based on word of mouth, not within the first weekend. I think that is why for us this is the newfound space to explore and celebrate talent," explained Shahana.

"The Last Hour", also featuring Sanjay Kapoor, streams on Amazon Prime Video.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)