A lot has been
written, talked and discussed these days about ‘status of women in India’. Much
gender sensationalization has been happening. In this context it is interesting
to have a look at the Hindi cinema.
What is the
situation of women who are working in an industry which has more than thousands
of crores of rupees of turn over? No, I am not talking about how on-screen
women portrayal in Hindi cinema. This article deals with women who work behind
the camera. What is the off-screen situation? This is more an attempt to raise
some questions than to provide answers. But raising questions here is very
important too, because cinema is not just any random industry but it is a very
powerful and effective medium of cultural communication.
The famous film
director Zoya Akhtar recounts a story from the time when she was directing her
first film (Luck by Chance-2009). Whenever the shot was ready, one of her
assistants used ask her brother Farhaan Akhar (who was an actor in that film) to
check whether everything was ok or not. She ignored this a few times, but finally
she had to tell him that ‘she’ was the director of the film. She asked him to accept
it, or leave. This story reflects the mindset towards women, which is the same
in many fields. In many fields, typical men cannot work under female boss.
There are a few
female directors who are well known for their meaningful cinema. Aparna Sen,
Meera Nair, Deepa Mehta, Sai Paranjape, Kalpana Lazmi are some of them. They have created their own space. Their
films were never typical Bollywood masala movies, but comments (I do not mean
messages) on society. Most of their stories were on social issues, and
unfortunately this stereotyped them. Female director means social issue or
women centric films, this equation was formed in the industry.
The famous film
critic Anupama Chopra says that the industry never cares for who is working
behind the camera. An investor never thinks whether the director is a female or
a male – he wants return on money. Producers
are interested only in stories. But no one will invest 80 crores in women
centric films, because they do not get commercial success. It has been proved
again and again. If Ms. Chopra has a point, then it is clear that why
commercial success is very important for any movie. Most of the films directed
by above mentioned female directors were critically acclaimed but hardly any of
their movies were runaway hits. Not only above mentioned directors but new
directors like Tanuja Chandra, Bhavna Talwar, Shonali Bose, Meghna Guljar also
got good reviews, but not good collection at the box office. Commercial success
is directly related to viewers’ choice. And common viewers do not look for the director’s
name. So can we conclude that female directors have failed to satisfy common
viewers? Do female directors miss the pulse of the common viewers?
During
the silent era, a female actor, who was not getting good roles, decided to make
a film on her own. Fatima Begum was her name. She started her own ‘Fatima Film
Corporation’ and directed a movie ‘Bulbul-e-Paristan’ in 1926. She is on record
as India’s first female director. From 1926 to 2013, the number of female
directors is not at all heartening. Like Fatima, there have been many actors
who tried their luck in direction. The list includes Sadhana (Geeta Mera
Naam), Hema Malini (Dil Ashna Hai), Deepa Sahi (Tere Mere Phere), Deepti Naval (Do Paise ki Dhoop, Char Aane ki
Barish) and Nandita Das (Firaaq). This
is not a comprehensive list, but we can get the idea that female directors have
had to struggle a lot for commercial success.
The film
industry is not a very attractive place to be in, because of its uncertainty of
time, work, money and success. In any other field, if you work hard, without
caring for money and time, you may get success. But in the film industry, the
equation is never this simple. Is this a reason why there are less numbers of
females behind the camera? A person who is not associated with this industry in
any way finds it very hard to get a break; for a woman it is much harder. All
the famous and successful women directors of these days have had associations with
this industry for many years. Zoya Akhtar, Farha Khan, Pooja Bhatt have grown
in this industry. It is like their family business. Bela Sehgal (Director of
‘Shirin Farhad ki to Nikal Padi) is the sister of the famous director Sanjay
Leela Bhansali who is the producer of her film. But what is quite interesting
here is that the big dads of the industry like Yash Raj, Dharma and Rajshri
Productions have never introduced a female director. Mahesh Bhatt has been an
an exception. He not only introduced Tanuja Chandra as a film director but
produced many of her films like Dushman, Sangharsh, Yeh Zindagi ka Safar. His
daughter Pooja Bhatt is also a famous film director.
So much for
India. What is the scene in world cinema, or at least in Hollywood? Give it a
search. IDMB gives you the top 100 directors of the world (the list was
published in 2010), and amazingly there isn't a single woman there. The reputed
English Daily Guardian gives you the top 40 directors of all time, the list has
only two female names. In the history of 85 years of Oscar, only four women
were nominated for ‘Best Director’, and there is only one winner till date. She
is Kathryn Bigelow and the film was ‘The Hurt Locker’ in 2010. Does this mean
that ‘movie making is not a field for women who want to work behind the camera?
It is important to find out the answer to this question, because
The scenario in
the Indian Film Industry, fortunately, is changing. The rate of change is slow
but still considerable. In last two-three years lots of female directors have
come forward. The list includes, Rajshri Ojha (Ayesha), Anusha Rizavi (Peepli
Live), Kiran Rao (Dhobi Ghat), Anu Menon (London, Paris, New York), Barnali Ray
Shukla (Kuchh Love Jaisa), Alankrita Shrivastava (Turning 30), Leena Yadav
(Teen Patti), Reema Kagti (Talaash) and Gauri Shinde (English-Vinglish). Besides
direction, the number of women is increasing in other areas of film making too.
Sharmishta Roy (Art Direction), Aarti Bajaj (Editing), Sneha Khanwalkar (Music)
and Ekta Kapoor (Production) are doing well in their fields. This is a change –
a slow change, but a most welcome one.
Women have a
different view of the world than men. They have their own perspectives on issues
which are certain to be different from men’s. It is important that they get an
opportunity to express themselves. Perhaps we need to wait for a new dawn in which
the gender sensitivity gets transcended.
