Bollywood leading ladies should come out of the shadows of men: Shobha De

On her love-hate relationship with Bollywood, she said, “There are double standards everywhere, the cosy club exists. Why did the Me too movement collapse? Why is Sajid Khan in Bigg Boss house?”

On the Delhi murder case, she said it reminded one of the disintegration of Indian families. (File)

The leading ladies of Bollywood should come out the shadows of men and establish a girls’ club of their own in the industry, author and columnist Shobha De said at the Deccan Literature Festival on Sunday.

“Why do they play second fiddle to the boys? Get your own table. Don’t join theirs. Among the female stars, I think Deepika Padukone has the power to take the lead. In directors, there are women like Gauri Shinde. (But) People will not back filmmakers like her. They will give money to a disaster like Brahmastra. They will not have the same chance which an Ayan Mukherjee does,” said the author.

On her love-hate relationship with Bollywood, she said, “There are double standards everywhere, the cosy club exists. Why did the Me too movement collapse? Why is Sajid Khan in Bigg Boss house?”

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De said the Hindi film industry has been demonised and trivialised. “It is one of the most important sub cultures of our time. We are doing it a disservice by this treatment. Even if the songs or storyline make no sense, the films speak something about us, as a society.”

On the Delhi murder case, she said it reminded one of the disintegration of Indian families. “The woman’s father had not spoken to her in months… I just want to say that if we keep judging our young, there will be more such cases,” De said.

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