‘Craft doesn’t have a gender’

With her gritty thrillers such as Talvar (2015) and Raazi (2018) having audiences on the edge of their seats, film-maker Meghna Gulzar has left the stereotypes surrounding “women directors” far behind. She says, “I don’t think I’ve had to face being stereotyped, but I won’t say that the sentiment did not exist. When I was making my first film 17 years ago, the sentiment was that female directors would tell stories that will always be about women, and that no male star would want to work with them. A lot of times, that did happen. But we also had a lot of male directors who made films with women in the centre of the story. Why is there no prejudice against them?”

The director is quick to point out that classic hits such as Pakeezah and Sujata were directed by men. She also says a film’s success is based on a good story and not the gender of the film-maker helming the project. “Why do alarm bells ring when a woman tells a woman’s story? And what do you call a Farah Khan in all this? If you ask me, it’s the content. If the content connects with the audience, it doesn’t matter who makes it. Craft doesn’t have a gender. A male director can be as sensitive or insightful as a female director,” she says.

While her first few films did not resonate with

I don’t think I’ve had to face being stereotyped, but I won’t say that the sentiment did not exist... But we also had many male directors who made films with women in the centre of the story. Why is there no prejudice against them? MEGHNA GULZAR, DIRECTOR

audiences, Meghna emerged as a winner with Talvar, which was based on the Arushi Talvar murder case. The success of the film, (starring Irrfan, Konkona Sensharma and Neeraj Kabi) helped strengthen the director’s belief in good content. “If there are any stumbling blocks in the story, I don’t think it’s the gender — it’s the content. I was still an unsuccessful film-maker when I began casting for Talvar and I was a woman film-maker, but the first three people we approached for the film said yes to it. How did that happen? What worked for me, is the content,” she says, and adds on a lighter note, “You can’t change your gender, so you should try to make content that’s difficult to reject.”