Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali recently reflected on the portrayal of gender in cinema and how to make film sets safe for women. Imtiaz averred that he has seen a ‘profound level of respect’ for women on Hindi film sets. The director also cited that he had to remove crew members thrice in his career, spanning almost 20 years, for not behaving properly. He was speaking at the International Film Festival of India in Goa while participating in a panel discussion with actors Bhumi Pednekar and Vani Tripathi.
“There have been three times in my entire life that I’ve sent people (crew members) back, from different places, from different sets. I am happy that it’s only three. I remember once it happened on the sets of Highway. We were shooting on the rural highway with Randeep and Alia and there were no proper vanity vans back in 2013. Alia had to change, go for nature’s call in different, unusual places. Once I had to send this guy back from the set when he was trying to be around her during that time. So yes, it did happen with me as a filmmaker thrice, but not anymore. Times have changed, changed drastically. Actresses are really safe on the sets. It’s not like that anymore,” Imtiaz said.
He added, “The film industry in Bombay is remarkable for the way it treats its women and I, as a man, have noticed this. If there are 200 people working in a unit, it is a very safe space for women.”
Imtiaz Ali also mentioned how comfortable Kareena Kapoor was while Jab We Met crew worked around her, calling her ‘a kid of the film industry’.
“For instance, there was a shot in Jab We Met when the cameraman said that I need a light in the shot at the last moment. Kareena was ready for the shot and on the top berth in a railway compartment. She had to mumble in her sleep in the scene, and we needed extra lights on the berth. I asked her to come down until crew members finished putting the light on. She said that I will keep lying there and they can just put the light on. Three men went up and put it while standing on the lower berth where she was lying down. I asked her, ‘Are you sure and comfortable?’ She didn’t understand what my problem was. She said, ‘Abhi kon utrega aur phir chadhega!’ And that’s because she felt so safe with those three men hovering over her to put the light. Nobody looked at her wrong in any way,” Imtiaz explained.
Click for more updates and latest Bollywood news along with Entertainment updates. Also get latest news and top headlines from India and around the world at The Indian Express.
