Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to access exclusive content and expert insights.

subscribe now subscribe cover image
Ankur Pathak profile imageAnkur Pathak
How are women in Bollywood breaking the shackles?

Four women working in the Hindi film industry speak about upending staid notions of gender at work, discovering their voices, and the stories they want to tell


The past few years have seen a seismic shift in the Indian entertainment space. The arrival of streaming platforms has not only compelled us to rethink the monopoly of the ‘star system’ by shifting the power from stars to stories, but has also put women in positions where they have the power to influence both storytelling as well as the stories that get told. From writing to editing and producing to directing, there are several emerging voices in practically every aspect of filmmaking. The Established puts a spotlight on four such talents who are changing the rules of the game, one giant step at a time.

For Anu Singh Choudhary, journalism was a ticket to freedom

For Anu Singh Choudhary, journalism was a ticket to freedom

publive-image

"When the web-series Aarya (2020) happened, there was nothing to fear and no self-set benchmark to pursue," says Anu Singh Choudhary

Anu Singh Choudhary, Co-writer, Aarya (Season 1 & 2), The Great Indian Kitchen (upcoming), Scoop (upcoming)

Finding a voice with journalism

While growing up in Ranchi, I wanted to be a writer–a poet, a lyricist, an author, a screenwriter–anything that allowed me to stay in my head. My mantra even now is, “Main badi hoke Ismat Chughtai banna chahati hoon.” I always believed that writers had more power than bureaucrats or politicians.

However, our background and upbringing doesn’t allow us the luxury of being a writer, or even an artist or creator for that matter. We are expected to work towards certain goals–a decent-looking school report card, a good-looking college degree, a steady career, a fixed income. Additionally, for young women, there are looming pressures of “getting married at the right time” and “having a family at the right time”.

I must confess, I gave in to all of the above. Journalism was my ticket to gain a steady job, and yet stay close to my dream of writing. It was also my ticket to freedom. It took me to places and allowed me opportunities to explore the world. This was a big deal for a woman who had first stepped out of Bihar only at the age of 17.

After spending five years as a journalist, I realised that fiction is actually closer to the quest of truth, even in its world of make-believe.

Migrating to fiction

When the web-series Aarya (2020) happened, there was nothing to fear and no self-set benchmark to pursue. I was there to learn, and thankfully, Aarya’s creative process, led by Ram Madhvani, allows you that freedom of failing, of making mistakes. I had the best team in my co-writer Sandeep Srivastava and co-showrunner Sandeep Modi, both generous and patient.

“AFTER SPENDING FIVE YEARS AS A JOURNALIST, I REALISED THAT FICTION IS ACTUALLY CLOSER TO THE QUEST OF TRUTH, EVEN IN ITS WORLD OF MAKE-BELIEVE.”

Anu Singh Choudhary

I was the only woman in the writers’ room for the show’s first season, and that allowed me a lot of agency. The team was willing to lean on me to know more about what women characters would feel, and why. The writing for the second season got even better with another fellow woman writer, Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh, in the room. Ram used to refer to us as the 'Secret Society of Sisters' but this collaboration allowed us to dig deep and seek some naked truth, even on something as sacrosanct as motherhood.

Gender inequities

I began my screenwriting career at the age of 39, after quitting journalism to raise my children. I felt I had done enough as a daughter and a daughter-in-law, always being present for my family in good times and bad. I am acutely aware that I am 15 years behind my peers in the industry. This is both a bane and a boon. A bane because I am always in a hurry to learn and do more at my age, and a boon because I am now surrounded by younger people who are very good at their work. As women in the industry, it is not always easy. We are still fighting for equal wages, equal credits and equal visibility while managing homes, families, the kitchen and our own feeling of guilt at the constant juggling. I’d like to see more women at work. Probably 25 per cent more screenwriters than a dismal 15 per cent that we’ve got now?

On the pressure of writing the Hindi remake of Malayalam hit The Great Indian Kitchen

Oh, it’s scary! But then I tell myself that I have lived this, I have known this up and close. I don’t have to do anything other than being honest with what I have known and seen so far in my life with mothers, cousins, aunts–women who don’t know how to tell their stories. If I manage to bring even 10 per cent of their lived experiences with utmost honesty and empathy on paper, I would have done my job well.

publive-image

"Editing is a lot about how people respond to things around them and how these reactions are timed," says Shweta Venkat Matthew

It was only during her time at Film and Television Institute of India that Shweta Venkat Matthew realised what it actually meant to be an editor

It was only during her time at Film and Television Institute of India that Shweta Venkat Matthew realised what it actually meant to be an editor


Shweta Venkat Mathew, Editor,
Haseen Dilruba (2021), Newton (2017), Meri Pyaari Bindu (2017)

Discovering the role of an ‘editor’

I grew up on a regular fare of Hindi movies and used to pick continuity faults (which I have now stopped doing) very often. I did not realise there was something called editing until I joined the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. We had to choose a discipline and I picked editing on a whim. It was only during FTII that I realised what it actually meant to be an editor. The way I had been reacting to films all my life suddenly started making sense.

Sharpening the scissors

Watching and absorbing films is immensely helpful. However, more than anything else, it’s just observing things around you that can teach you so much. Editing is a lot about how people respond to things around them and how these reactions are timed. It's in the little details, such as how an aunt would respond to you or the stillness or chaos of the surrounding space. Sadly, I meet a lot of young editors who don't really pay attention to things around them and that reflects in their work. While it is packaged well and looks slick, often there is no thought or use of imagination.

Cut out the sexism, please

When I started off as an editor, the road ahead had already been paved by the likes of Renu Saluja and Hemanti Sarkar. There were women who were mainly editing non-fiction. I was one of the few women editors who began in advertising, working in a post-production studio. Whenever a job would be assigned and I would walk into the room, I could sense a moment of curiosity and sometimes even doubt around me, just for a split-second. Clients would rarely ask for our [women’s] opinions. But the work would speak for itself and all would be forgotten. With more and more women working in the media and other creative fields, this doesn’t happen frequently today.

“I WAS ONE OF THE FEW WOMEN EDITORS WHO BEGAN IN ADVERTISING, WORKING IN A POST-PRODUCTION STUDIO. WHENEVER A JOB WOULD BE ASSIGNED AND I WOULD WALK INTO THE ROOM, I COULD SENSE A MOMENT OF CURIOSITY AND SOMETIMES EVEN DOUBT AROUND ME, JUST FOR A SPLIT-SECOND.”

Shweta Venkat Matthew

Oftentimes the men in the room tend to enjoy a camaraderie among themselves which can make you feel left out or uncomfortable. There used to be a time when every edit decision I took would be silently scrutinised. Earlier, a new job would usually come with its own set of apprehensions from the director, which would soon transform into confidence.

A scene that gave sleepless nights

There have been many such scenes and, in most cases, after much trial and error, it is the sound design that has helped me through a tricky situation. Sound is my best friend; I cannot seem to work without it. For instance, the last scene in Gangs of Wasseypur 1 (2012), where Sardar Khan is shot, gave me sleepless nights. It was a chilling scene but something wasn’t working. Then I thought of adding a dialogue from an earlier scene, and it suddenly made sense. Anurag (Kashyap) went further and added the song Jiyo Bihar ke Lala as we were anyway trying to figure out where it could be used. When he did that, it was sheer magic.

Anubhati Kashyap left her corporate job because she wanted to direct

Anubhati Kashyap left her corporate job because she wanted to direct

publive-image

"I worked on Gangs of Wasseypur as an assistant director, after which I started writing short films. I was very clear about how I wanted my first film to be set up," she says

Anubhuti Kashyap, Director, Doctor G (2022)

Ditching the corporate life

In the early aughts, I was leading a comfortable life with a job in the corporate sector. After a promotion, I had an epiphany that if I had to make a move, now was the time, or I’d get too comfortable. My brother, Anurag Kashyap, was already making films. I once landed on the set of No Smoking (2007) and Anurag insisted that I should be writing or directing– he had more faith in me than I had in myself. I didn’t mull over it too much. I put in my papers. I honestly thought this was a sabbatical, but well, life had other plans. I started off as a researcher on Bombay Velvet (2015) which involved reading, watching films and eating some delicious food. I was very sure I’d go back to my corporate job in a few months. But then I met filmmaker Raj Kumar Gupta.

Hustling on set

I met Raj Kumar Gupta through Anurag. While he didn’t have to make any calls, I ended up in a place where he was there too (one of the ways privilege works, perhaps), and Gupta offered me the job of an Assistant Director (AD) for Aamir (2008). Then came Dev D (2009). With these two films, I learnt everything there was to learn about how movie sets worked. I absorbed so much that is helping me as a filmmaker today. I started researching for No One Killed Jessica (2011) and did my own take on it, but it got rejected. It must have been so amateur, in hindsight. I worked on Gangs of Wasseypur as an assistant director, after which I started writing short films, a couple of features, and pitched them around. But I was very clear about how I wanted my first film to be set up.

The long wait to direction

Ever since my brother became famous, I have struggled to come out of his shadow. This is why I didn’t want Anurag to produce my first film. It wouldn’t have given me a sense of accomplishment. I was also very clear that I wanted to make a film with a studio, as I wanted guaranteed distribution. I had seen friends getting depressed as their films didn’t see the light of the day and I absolutely didn’t want to go down that path. So when Doctor G came to me, I knew I had found the right home and subject. However, the film, too, had its own share of delays due to an internal shift in management at Junglee Pictures.

Battling bias

Junglee Pictures, the studio producing Doctor G, was actually looking for a woman director. The film came to me and we rewrote it. So in that sense, my gender actually helped since they wanted a woman filmmaker. But that doesn’t mean it can be cast aside, as my other women-director friends have gone through their own share of struggles. During my days as an AD, people were not always sensitive to having women colleagues on set. I see that changing now, as more and more women are seen on the set doing jobs “traditionally” reserved for men.

The tales I want to tell

I am quite driven to tell stories that don’t shy away from the political dynamics of a situation but given the current environment, it is perhaps safer to avoid that. Even from Doctor G, we’ve deleted parts that could potentially cause trouble. Personally, as a writer, what comes naturally to me are stories that reflect women's voices. I feel it’s first important to get women's stories heard, and that has not happened yet. I would love to do an action film or a sci-fi spectacle but right now, I would like to tell personal, intimate stories.

Mauli Singh is drawn to the narrative style of independent cinema

Mauli Singh is drawn to the narrative style of independent cinema

Fire in the Mountains  made it to the selection of the Sundance Film Festival in 2020

Fire in the Mountains  made it to the selection of the Sundance Film Festival in 2020

Mauli Singh, Head of Development, Matchbox Shots

From publicist to producer

While working as a publicist of largely independent films, I knew I wanted to be a more intrinsic part of the filmmaking process. This was mainly to do with the people I was working with: Amit Masurkar, Rima Das, Avinash Arun among several others. But it was Film Bazaar (a film market that runs parallel to the International Film Festival of India in Goa) that planted the thought of turning producer. It’s such a buzzing place for cinema and ideas and leaves you deeply inspired.

When Newton premiered at the 67th Berlin Film Festival, I booked my own tickets and travelled in the capacity of a publicist. I made the most of the opportunity by hustling the hell out! I attended the co-production market, met sales agents, made it to the important parties and came back completely transformed.

Learning on the job

I had met producer Manish Mundra while already working on Drishyam Films as their publicist. He had seen something that my husband, Ajitpal Singh, had directed. Mundhra asked me if we could put together a short film. Within days, I got Rammat-Gammat (2018) in production.

“A GOOD PRODUCER ALSO NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND PITCHING, MARKETING, PR, FESTIVAL STRATEGY AND WHAT IT TAKES TO MOUNT A PROJECT.”

Mauli Singh

From scheduling to budgeting to costumes, I was involved in every department. We pulled it off in record time. That May, I found myself in Cannes representing Devashish Makhija’s film Bhonsle (2018), looking for co-producers and international agents. I was learning the ropes.

A good producer also needs to understand pitching, marketing, PR, festival strategy and what it takes to mount a project. When Rammat-Gammat went to MUBI, it was a major validation. Right after, Ajay Rai of Jar Pictures approached me and Ajit to make a feature, which turned out to be Fire in the Mountains (2021).

Since I was aware of the opportunities that can help films like the one we had made, I sent Fire in the Mountains to the Work-in-Progress Lab at Film Bazaar, where it was selected. Eventually, it also made it to the selection of the Sundance Film Festival in 2020. These small victories gave me more and more confidence in what I was doing.

Love for indie

What draws me towards independent cinema is the narrative style: original, thought-provoking and stands apart because of its cinematic language. I naturally gravitate towards it because of the kind of films I grew up watching. I’m so glad that happened because it has made me meet such a wonderful community of filmmakers; I feel my life is richer thanks to my interactions with them. It was extremely rewarding to work as a publicist on indie films as I was helping to extend the reach of the kind of cinema that was very close to me.

The present is female

Being a woman hasn’t really been a hindrance as far as my journey is concerned. I’d even say that it has worked in my favour as a lot of people working in independent cinema seek out a woman’s perspective, given that there are so many male filmmakers. Of course, there are instances of casual sexism, you cannot escape those. There are male filmmakers who are very condescending in their tone. But I’d still not go as far as to say that being a woman has been a disadvantage for me. At times, more than gender, it’s because I’ve been a “publicist” that some have spoken to me in ways that didn’t feel right. Nevertheless, you do find a way around it and let your work do the talking.

Slipping into a new role

As the Head of Development at Matchbox Shots, I’m currently reading multiple scripts. A lot of them are crime dramas and investigative stories but what I am really seeking are relationship dramas. We don’t have enough films that are reflective of the kind of relationships that we have today. Scenes from a Marriage (2021) or Marriage Story (2019) or Closer (2004) are some of my favourite relationship-centred stories, and I’d love to produce a film as complex and honest as one of them.

Also Read: How tough is it for women entrepreneurs to raise capital?

Also Read: Has streaming killed the cinema star?

Also Read: What makes women justify domestic violence?


Subscribe for More

Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to access exclusive content and expert insights.

subscribe now