Sexual freedom isn't the only struggle women have, says Nandita Das
Nandita Das has always been vocal about social justice and women's rights — and she hopes to continue doing so.
“Female actors are still stereotyped in their portrayal as being constantly good-looking (read sexy, if they are young, which they invariably need be) and their career is still much shorter than the male stars, who at 50 can play college boys. Having said that, definitely more and more women are now behind the camera so there is a little more representation and diversity but still far from being enough,” said Das.
“When a project is submitted, the question is still asked: who is the hero? This will take some time to change. An A-list actress will never have an A-list actor playing opposite her if she’s playing the lead. While the opposite happens all the time,” she added.
The actress asserted that “stories exploring women’s issues are increasing, though every second film is focusing on sexual freedom by showing their sexy bodies and speaking profanity as if this was the only way to be free”.
“It's undermining many struggles that women go through and further panders to the male gaze,” she said; was this a sly dig at Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Veere Di Wedding? We think so.
Nandita's directorial Manto was screened at the 71st Cannes Film Festival this year, where she joined many Hollywood stars in a protest against the gender pay gap.
She shared she was "delighted to be part of that five percent who have had that honour to walk the red carpet, marching along 81 other women”.
At the moment, she's looking forward to the release of Manto which is expected release in India in September.
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