“I’ve been working for over a decade, and the number of scripts where women have substantial, dignified roles has drastically reduced. When overall opportunities shrink, it also explains why women in technical roles are being seen less. Because within a conditioned hierarchy, men are naturally prioritised, even though it’s wrong,” said Bhumi on the heels of the release of the O Womaniya! report by Amazon Prime Video India, which spotlights the hits and misses of female representation in Indian entertainment in 2024.
As per the report, the drop in female representation behind the camera came as a setback with only 13% of the HOD positions, analyzed across key departments of direction, cinematography, editing, writing, and production design, held by women as compared to 15% in the previous report.
“In my entire career, I’ve worked on a fully women-led set only once, and in the last three years, I’ve maybe done just two or three projects directed by women, even though I constantly chase those opportunities,” said Bhumi Pednekar. Her last show, Daldal on Amazon Prime Video, was created by Suresh Triveni and directed by Amrit Raj Gupta. The show prior to that, The Royals on Netflix last year, was created by Ishita and Rangita Pritish Nandy, written by Neha Veena Sharma, and directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana.
Bhumi Pednekar in Daldal.
But Bhumi clarified that for her as an actor, it’s not only about gender but also shared sensibilities while doing projects led by women. “It’s not about gender but about what someone brings to the table, though I do enjoy working with women because of shared experiences and sensitivities,” said Bhumi.
As per the report, while theatrical films lagged behind like last year, streaming films displayed a significant jump of 16% over the 2024 report, with 47% of the titles passing the test. “A major reason for this decline is not just reduced work, but the kind of films being made today – they’re largely hyper masculine. I’m not the audience for them, and neither are many other women, which means a large section of viewers has been alienated, and women are pushed out of creative and technical spaces,” added Bhumi.
Bhumi Pednekar’s Saand Ki Aankh (2019) co-star Taapsee Pannu also recently lamented the state of women-led films in theatres today. “A female-led film has to be a 100% perfect for it to work at the box-office, whereas a below-average male-led film can be a blockbuster. Women need to constantly achieve perfection, the expectations are too harsh,” she said in an interview with The Quint.
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Her Assi co-star Kani Kusruti, also echoed her concern. “I believe that in art, we fundamentally need failure in order to progress. Women should be allowed to make bad films but we don’t have the luxury to fail in this industry,” said the actor.
In a recent interview with SCREEN, Bhumi said she hopes women-led films aren’t a thing of the past in theatres. But she maintained that the buck stops on the audience now, like ever before. “The audience will have to make that happen. They’ll have to go to theatres. There are good films that all of us are trying to put out,” she said.
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