Having more women filmmakers is bringing a change, feels Lara
From navigating her way into Bollywood, coming up with a prenatal yoga series to now debuting on television, Lara Dutta Bhupathi has come a long way since she was crowned Miss Universe in the year 2000. The actor says with increasing participation of women behind the cameras, there’s a visible change in the entertainment industry.
“I think the whole scene is changing because of more participation of women, and so there are that better-written parts that women are getting in films. I think the younger lot — Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone and Kangana Ranaut — they are really lucky to be a part of Indian cinema at a time when more women filmmakers are telling stories that deserve to be told. This is only improving the image of our women in Indian cinema,” says Lara.
She pointed out how since she produced the film Chalo Dilli (2011), the number of female filmmakers has increased. “They are coming up with the right story and thankfully, studios are ready to invest money and taking female filmmakers seriously. At the same time, actors like Kangana and Anushka are also producing their own films. I think that is how we are getting more and more empowered,” she adds. While some iconic female filmmakers like Mira Nair and Aparna Sen have represented Indian cinema on the global platform in the past, in the last few years, names like Zoya Akhtar, Alankrita Shrivastava, Gauri Shinde and Konkona Sen Sharma have been a hit behind the camera.
Anushka has produced offbeat films like NH10 (2015), Phillauri (2017) and the latest, Pari, while Priyanka Chopra is producing a slew of regional films. And who can miss out filmmaker Ekta Kapoor? Though heroines tend to get typecast in a mother’s role after a certain age, it is interesting how, Lara, who is now 39 years old, got to play a strong-headed professional lawyer in Azhar (2016), and an art gallery owner and curator in Fitoor (2016). On this, she says, “I never made a strategy to choose a certain kind of role, but yes, those are the kind of roles I am offered. Maybe, filmmakers believe that I can bring something more to such characters in a film. Honestly, I do not analyse them that much. I think that is why I have done a variety of roles from a lawyer and a village woman to a mad character in a comedy film like Singh Is Bliing (2015).”
There are that betterwritten parts that women are getting in films... more women filmmakers are telling stories that deserve to be told.
LARA DUTTA BHUPATHI ACTOR