‘One can’t typecast women’

Mirch,which released in December 2010,was a bold attempt by the director to depict female sexuality and libido. With an impressive star cast,which included Konkona Sen Sharma,Raima Sen,Shreyas Talpade,Boman Irani,Shahana Goswami and Arunoday Singh,the movie is in the form of four short stories,bound together by a fifth one,which also serves as a narrative. While a couple of the stories are Shukla’s own,the others are influenced by the Panchatantra,and some Italian texts.

All the stories are based on beautiful,street-smart women,who are caught cheating on their husbands,and manage to escape from the situation owing to their wit and intelligence. So,wasn’t he afraid that people might interpret those women as vile and cunning? “You know,I was not actually considering gender issues. I was attracted to the wit of these stories. And if you see them,none of them are actually cunning. They are just women who are frank about their sexuality,and know how to get what they want,” says the filmmaker.

Ask him if he was ever apprehensive about coming across as sanctioning adultery,and he explains,“If you observe the movie,I am no where taking a stand on adultery. In some of the stories,the women were driven to adultery because of the way they were treated by their husbands,while in others,I made no excuses for the act. But what I wanted to bring out was that a woman who strays is branded as a prostitute,but there is no equal word that exists in the dictionary for a cheating husband. I make this point in one of the stories as well.” Continuing on the same note,he says,“Look at the news that we read about – women are killed for dowry or by jilted lovers. The fact is that men still consider women to be their property.”

Shukla is also the director of the film Godmother (1999),which won six National awards. In fact,his films have always had strong women characters. What draws him to such subjects? “I have never deliberately portrayed women in this way or that. I don’t think they can be typecast. But I guess this reflects my sensibility and my love for women!” he quips.