‘I want my women to talk about things not related to men, romance, or marriage!’

This year has started with a bang for me,” says actor-director Renuka Shahane, whose directorial venture Tribhanga released recently on an OTT platform. “I’m happy with the response to the film, the performances and that people related to what I tried to portray in the story. Indian stories are unique and they need to be shared with the entire world. My characters might have an education which is westernised but their choices and manner of living are rooted in Indianness, which is lovely to celebrate,” she says, adding her next film, too, might be about three women. Often people feel female directors are able to highlight women’s issues pertinently, But Shahane doesn’t agree. “Directors like Gulzar, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt have represented women beautifully. I think is it about being a sensitive human. It is not that women directors can’t represent men well, so the converse is also true. I feel I am still a work in a progress, as a writer or director. The stories I can believe in and understand are the ones I would like to share. I want my women to have names and talk about things that are not related to men, romance, or marriage, for heaven’s sake!” she says. There has been a change in cinema over the years and in the last few years, content has become king across platforms. Talking about it, she says, “With OTT platforms, now there’s a space one wanted, to push the envelope in terms of content, without thinking about economic viability of a project. The more content we have, the more audience there will be for it- that’s a win-win situation. They will then expect good content even from mainstream films.”

PHOTO: FOTOCORP Kavita Awaasthi