Sush upholds woman power
Bollywood has more women wielding the director's microphone than even Hollywood, and their tribe is increasing. Apart from actress Sushmita Sen, director Farhan Akhtar's sister Zoya Akhtar and Shahid Kapur's mother Neelima Azim are also now stepping behind the camera for their directorial debut.
Though, it's been decades since a woman first took over the reigns of filmmaking in Bollywood, the gender war still exists. "In a male driven society, the moment a woman is in a place of authority there is basically a psychological problem. When they know that you know your job better than what they do, it's a problem. Secondly, it's an entertainment industry where women are looked at as decorative pieces. When it comes to a creative or intellectual level, then it takes the male psyche to take time to adjust," Neelima said.
Though, the Hindi film industry boasts of a range of women filmmakers like Sai Paranjpe, Aparna Sen, Kalpana Lajmi, Tanuja Chandra and Farah Khan, actress Sushmita Sen couldn't find the right author to bring to life her dream period project Jhansi Ki Rani. And this made the former Miss Universe to take up the job of directing the film herself.
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"I want to bring to you a character from history that I think we all have forgotten and whose attributes and relevance has great meaning even today. Her story is not far back, it's only 150 years ago," Sushmita said while speaking about Jhansi ki Rani.
Ironically, though Bollywood has seen a spurt in the number of women directors lately, it's also given a cold shoulder to women-oriented subjects and themes. "Women when they start out don't usually want to make a film on women issues because they wouldn't want to be narrowed down to just that. They start on with a subject which they think every other male is making to show their prowess," Neelima said.
So it's a whole new generation working without the constraints of gender identity. No one is complaining as long as good stories make it to the screens.
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