Asked whether there is a dearth of meaty roles for female stars, Athiya, who stepped into showbiz with Salman Khan's production "Hero" last year, said: "No, I think that is changing".
"People like Sonam Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Vidya Balan and Deepika Padukone have made this concrete change happen. So, I think it is a great time to be in the Hindi film industry right now because there are roles for women and women are definitely making a mark not only in terms of being on screen but off screen as well," Athiya told IANS.
The daughter of actor Suniel Shetty hailed the increasing girl power behind the cameras.
She said: "We have Zoya Akhtar, we have so many women who are so talented and I don't feel like there is a dearth anymore."
What about her next project?
"I am going to be signing something. As soon as I sign I am sure you guys will know."
Athiya, who is the brand ambassador of Maybelline New York, has carved a name for herself in tinsel town for her acting skills as well as fashion quotient. She turned muse for designer Namrata Joshipura for the beauty brand's show at the recently concluded Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) Autumn-Winter 2016 here.
