Juhi Chawla glad to see more women among film crews
The winds of change are finally blowing in Bollywood. And actor Juhi Chawla is delighted. Set to star in the film, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga with Anil Kapoor, she is glad to see women at the forefront in fields like direction and production.
But that wasn’t always the case. “Up to 40% of the crew comprises young women, which is a fresh change because right from art direction, cinematography, direction, make-up, styling, everywhere there are girls working. It’s wonderful to see that because when I joined the industry in the ’90s there were just three to four women on the sets among the 100-125 crew. Those would be myself, my hair dresser, maybe my mother or aunt if they accompanied me, the choreographer or assistant. That would be it,” she recalls.
And with several star kids foraying into cinema, Juhi believes one must let their children “do what they want to do”. Speaking about her daughter Jhanvi Mehta, she says: “Her joy is being in some bookstore and losing herself in some nice books. At one time she was inspired by J K Rowling. That J K Rowling could become richer than the Queen, so she thought okay this is the way to go. She thought okay this is the way to go and said she wanted to be a writer. Then she went through a phase where she said I want to be a model. Tomorrow she might say I want to be an actor. Day after she might say she wants to drop all this and do sports. I have learnt one thing — you have to let your children do what they want!” she states.
The actor was in the news recently when the Supreme Court clubbed her petition with other petitions on norms for radiation from mobile towers. The court is scheduled to hear it in November, along with the pleas of five others. “We are digging our own graves,” says Juhi on the detrimental effects of mobile tower radiation.
“We did start to speak about harmful radiation from cellphones around six years ago. At that time nobody really knew the R of radiation, including myself. I still see many more cell towers in every possible area in the city. We have also gone from 3G to 4G and we are already talking about 5G,” she adds.
The actor is glad there is increasing awareness, but the solution is a long way. “Many are taking small steps to safeguard themselves from radiation, like charging phones outside the room or turning off the wi-fi router at night before sleeping. But the industry is on such an upward swing, I know I won’t be able to turn the tide, change happens only when there is a crisis,” Juhi signs off.