Updated: October 16, 2014 12:59:39 pm
Women-oriented films were being made earlier as well, but on a limited budget.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the success of Mardaani and Mary Kom has opened up doors for film-makers to make more women-oriented films. Such films were being made earlier as well, but on a limited budget. Even though there will still be budget constraints, film-makers are now more likely to go ahead and make such films as they know that they will be successful. In fact, it has now become a genre that film-makers are eager to explore.
I really don’t think that women-oriented films will be limited to biopics and issue-related subjects. Television is the best example where almost every show is woman-centric, and there are so many subjects out there that we can choose from. Having said that, I guess a biopic is based on true events, and the audience relates more to it as they may have experienced something similar.
Frankly, a film is a film, and I would really not categorise it in specific slots, and give a tag to it. The moment this tag: ‘women-oriented’ films is chucked, things will change, but if you look at the opening figures of Mary Kom (over 7 crore) you will understand that a change has already set in.
All of us associated with the film were wondering about the fate of the film at the box-office, and when it got the biggest opening for a female oriented movie, we knew we had made history! The weekend collections also crossed 20 crore which is almost the same as some of our hero-centric films.
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I really cannot comment on whether the film did well because it had an A-lister star like Priyanka Chopra, playing Mary Kom. I also cannot predict that had I not taken Priyanka, the figures would have been the same. But I wanted people to see my film, and it was a tough role which only a few could have done justice to. Besides, the notion that only a few directors are adept at handling such subjects is a fallacy.
But of course, some sensitive subjects like child trafficking which was the central theme in Mardaani, does require an imaginative director. In fact, even, I was not aware that I could make a woman oriented film, and I did it! While making Mary Kom, all that I focussed on was the character, and not the gender of the protagonist.
It is important to mention here that the supporting cast in such a film is extremely important. In Mary Kom all the other actors like Darshan Kumar and Sunil Thapa made Priyanka’s character look more real and convincing.
As told to Geety Sahgal
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