Women’s Day exclusive: On ‘labels’ and patriarchy in entertainment industry

On Women's Day, 5 actresses share their take on male dominance in showbiz

amruta-divya-kalki-shweta-surveen (From left) Amruta Subhash, Divya Dutta, Kalki Koechlin, Shweta Basu Prasad and Surveen Chawla | via Facebook

The entertainment industry in India, despite the encouraging winds of change, continues to be patriarchal. On Women’s Day, THE WEEK caught up with five phenomenal actresses— Amruta Subhash, Divya Dutta, Surveen Chawla, Kalki Koechlin and Shweta Basu Prasad—to find out their take on the continued male-dominance in the showbiz world.

Excerpts from the interview:

Amruta, your character as Lily in Bombay Begums, is an outlier of sorts. What was your immediate response when you heard the script?

It was interesting to play Lily, because she was completely out of my space. She is a bar dancer who has to do prostitution. But what I liked about her character was that she had so many colours and always says that motherhood is my dhara and that is what makes her the best mother I have seen in my life.

While preparing for her character, I met Reshma Apa who herself was a bar dancer in Kamathipura and she taught me that dreams do not belong to anybody. Everyone has the liberty to dream and make their dreams come true. This, despite being surrounded by difficulties and challenges. These women fight for their self-respect on a day-to-day basis and yet, stand up for themselves. All because they want a better life.

Divya, you took to Twitter to express your resentment on being termed a 'supporting actor'. Please elaborate.

My angst was against just a few people. I think times have changed and so has the milieu in which we find ourselves in at present. But there are still a few who continue with their limited perceptions. This tendency for labelling is very disturbing. I have a problem with labels. I would do any kind of roles, from a lead to a villain to comedian, and each time I would be labelled differently. Why can't I just be called an actor as I enjoy doing it? You can call a male actor an actor, no matter what character he essays on screen. Whether he is a lead, a villain or a supporting cast, his efforts are lauded across the spectrum. Then why are women subject to such prejudices and labelling?

I have an issue with that. Why this regressive thought process in today's age and time?

Kalki, what is your take on the changing definitions of the modern, liberated Indian woman, as depicted on screen?

I think the women featured on screen today are surer of themselves and are liberated too, in their head as well as in their body. Take, for instance, Shefali Shah in Delhi Crime. We are not checking on who she is as a person; we don’t go to the other side of her life to justify the fact that she is a strong woman. So, I think that's happening all the time on screen today. I think, for me personally, in the beginning there was a lot of stereotyping that was happening after DevD. I got many prostitute roles and I had to say NO a number of times. There is that slotting which is of concern. Another example is that after Margerita, I was offered more disabled roles. So, no matter what you choose, you get slotted in that and it's frustrating. As a person, I suppose I have become less worried about catching everything that comes my way and instead taking time off and doing theatre to keep me busy. So, I have less of FOMO (fear of missing out) now, I guess. There are some roles that I loved doing, for instance, my character in Sacred Games, Waiting, and more. But these different kind of roles have been few and far between. I wait a long time for a good role.

Shweta, you have come a long way after your National Award-winning performance in the 2002 film Makdee. How have you, as a star and as a person, evolved over the years?

I think I was lucky that I started my career in 2002 with Vishal Bharadwaj and had Shabana Azmi as my first co-star. That was followed by Iqbal in 2005. Thankfully, my parents were very strict about my studies and said NO to a lot of projects after Iqbal, including Madhur Bhandarkar's Traffic Signal and Rajkumar Santoshi's Halla Bol.

Because, contrary to the popular belief regarding child-actor parents, my parents were actually more concerned about my upbringing and education. I am very grateful to them for that. I am a Mumbai girl and come from a family that values art and culture highly. My father owns a theatre company and my mother is a musician and writer and so I have grown up watching films.

I graduated in BMM and made a documentary for Netflix on classical music. I learnt to play the sitar and also assisted Anurag Kashyap on a short film. So, I had this coming-of-age stage in life from 2011-2014 when I was not sure if I wanted to continue acting or should I be behind the camera till Chandranandini on TV happened and then I got Badrinath Ki Dulhania. I got typecast as Bhabhi after that and those roles kept coming.

But I said NO. Now, with OTT, there is a lot more work that is coming in as an actor. I have been lucky that good work comes my way. I am secured in the sense that it's okay on losing out on a project, as long as another good actor is getting it.

Does that security, as Shweta just mentioned, come easily to you too, Surveen?

Not at all. It depends on where you are. If you are on a set, you feel differently. Because then there is a sense of security and grounded-ness. But that is temporary. Most times the waiting period that happens after a project is over, is killing. Work comes erratically. You spend most time sitting at home, because of the kind of the choices you make and the kind of work you want to say YES to.

Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not. Going back to my television days when I wanted to quit after working for three years to explore more, I feared stagnating as a performer. Everything I learnt has been hands-on, that is, on the sets. I did not come from a theatre background or an acting school. I did so many Punjabi, Hindi films and in Bollywood, the candyfloss is what attracts you the most.

But the constant is struggle is to break open the box you are put into with every part you play. To break that shackle is very, very difficult and it is a long wait. It will be unfair to say that one does not feel insecure. Of course, you are filled with insecurity and depression as I have been. To come out of that depression is very difficult because you are not sure whether or not you are going to get the project ever. It's like you are stuck in a loop. The victory is in resilience, really. It takes a village to raise any human being and we all need the support of our inner circles as showbiz is a very difficult profession.