Gals don't get the big pic

KANAK HIRANI NAUTIYAL / TNN / Nov 10, 2006, 17:27 IST

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Why are women-oriented films like Umrao Jaan and Zindaggi Rocks few and far between?

Why are women-oriented films like Umrao Jaan and Zindaggi Rocks few and far between?
When Abhishek Bachchan was asked about his role in Umrao Jaan, he said, 'It's Aishwarya's film.' With Ash commanding all the attention in this period film, for once the men were relegated to the background.
Likewise with Sushmita Sen in Zindaggi Rocks or Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia in Dor. In such recent movies, women have played powerful protagonists, with guys only there for the glamour or a touch of humour.
But it's not every day that a Black comes along, allowing Bollywood's talented ladies to play the lead. So why aren't enough women-oriented films being made?

For that, says actor Shernaz Patel, who played Rani Mukherjee's mother in Black, one would have to study the psychology of audiences. "Why do we prefer to see the male playing the protagonist?
In India, cinema is purely escapist and therefore, a superhero film would would have to have the male playing lead." But Patel says the trend exists all over, "since the beginning of cinema; even during the cowboy era."
Will things change with time? "I hope so with the story being more important than the star. And there are so many women who would be fabulous Tabu, Rani, Revathi and even Ayesha Takia would stand out when paired opposite a man."

Actor and singer Vasundhara Das, who recently starred in an all-women film Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamaana, says, there just aren't enough films being written for women. "It's probably because male audiences imagine themselves as the hero and women go to watch the goodlooking stars."
Script writer and actor Sameer Malhotra believes it's because guys rule the industry. "It's unfortunate, but there are few women who can open a film." Malhotra feels three Bollywood women could, however, hold their own as protagonists. "Rani, Ash and Preity.
These are women of substance. I wish Bollywood could have more chick flicks not those which involve saving the world, but just interesting films about women and for women. We could have a Charlie's Angels that would be fun!"
Actor Shreyas Talpade who starred in the womanoriented Dor says he never felt threatened by a womancentric script. "There's so much more to a woman; they're no longer the Main Tulsi Tere Angaan Ki types.
Woman have so many shades today. Their unpredictability is their USP," adds Talpade, who would love to see Madhuri Dixit make her comeback in a woman-oriented film.
And any role written for a man that a woman could well have done? Says Patel, "I don't see why Gabbar couldn't have been played by a woman!"
kanakhirani@indiatimes.com

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