You’re always judged if you’re a woman: Zoya

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar (right) says people are quick to label a woman as “bossy” if she is leading a team. The 44-year-old filmmaker believes people appreciate authoritarian men but have negative things to say about women who have a strong hold.

“When we talk of sexism, you’re always judged if you’re a woman and you’re in control. In the sense, she is rambling, she is bossy. I am not bossy, I am the boss. It’s as simple as that, I don’t want to do anything else, this is it,” Zoya says.

“So you always get ‘Oh he’s really good at his job he knows what he wants’ and ‘she is bossy,’” she adds.

The filmmaker says there are certain male directors who even punish their assistants but people think that’s the way to get the job done.

Zoya, who is the daughter of noted lyricist Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, says her parents never differentiated between her and brother, filmmaker, Farhan Akhtar.

“I don’t remember a day when I felt different from my brother because I was a girl. We are a year apart, we were treated the same. My first brush with sexism was when I went to college. My friend was not allowed to go out at night, though her brother was with her, because she was a girl. It shocked me,” she recalls.

I am not bossy, I am the boss. It’s as simple as that, I don’t want to do anything else, this is it ZOYA AKHTAR, FILMMAKER

PHOTO: ABHJEET GIDWANI