On Tuesday, 18th December PM Modi was on a one day visit to Maharashtra, at the Raj Bhavan and invited a delegation of Bollywood biggies to meet him. This included some of the big names from our entertainment industry including Karan Johar, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Bhushan Kumar, and many more.
But what do they all have in common? That’s right, all men! In a body of 18 representatives, there wasn’t a single woman.
Had an extensive and fruitful interaction with a delegation from the film and entertainment industry.
The delegation spoke about the strides being made by the film and entertainment industry, and gave valuable inputs relating to GST for their sector. https://t.co/ulQMtxTJQj pic.twitter.com/n4Dn38EJLr
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 18 December 2018
Happy to see the passion among members of the film and entertainment industry towards the development of India.
They talked at length about ways to further Mumbai’s development, particularly with regard to making it a global hub for entertainment.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 18 December 2018
Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar also tweeted about their discussion with the Prime Minister and even mentioned how he actually listened to their insights about the industry. But by listening to an all-male perspective, isn’t he hearing only half the truth?
Heartfelt thank you to the honorable Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for taking out time to hear us at length, discuss issues pertaining to our industry and assuring positive consideration of suggestions. pic.twitter.com/ShGfr0Jlvu
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) 18 December 2018
It’s been a year of #MeToo in India and it all started with women from Bollywood opening up about the darker side of the industry. The casual sexism, the molestation, the rape, the casting couch, powerful men using their position to silence female voices, the wage gap, the misrepresentation, the objectification or wait, was that all resolved? Well, we didn’t get the memo.
Upon seeing this, the ire of netizens was completely justified. Twitterati sent flak to PM Modi and even women from the media industry spoke up for themselves.
Even after #MeTooIndia, no one cared to include even one woman in the delegation. https://t.co/khSQ2g3Egh
— Surbhi Gupta (@bysurbhigupta) 18 December 2018
18 men. zero women. https://t.co/Bm0Jx7IaG0
— Neha Sharma (@mmiinniii) 18 December 2018
Would be great to have female representation in these delegations. It is 2018. https://t.co/HoxGbptgwX
— Alankrita Shrivastava (@alankrita601) 18 December 2018
This isn’t a delegation. This is a men’s delegation. The industry has very smart, wonderful and powerful women in every aspect of it. It can never be a fruitful interaction until and unless there is equal participation. https://t.co/Xh0xbJfyHx
— shailendra (@shail9473) 19 December 2018
This is wonderful! Is there a reason why there were no women in this room? @akshaykumar https://t.co/oO9teT3Gyi
— Dia Mirza (@deespeak) 19 December 2018
🙏 Hope the delegation includes some women next time 🙏 https://t.co/w7fMulu4sF
— Gul Panag (@GulPanag) 18 December 2018
Must be really hard finding a woman to be part of this. Who has ever heard of woman actor/director/filmmaker/scriptwriter etc. Its a sausage fest in entertainment industry.
— Priyanka (@autumnrainwish) 19 December 2018
Earlier in October as well, PM Modi hosted a delegation of seven B-town producers had a discussion with PM Modi including Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani among others. And there were no women invited to this all-male Bollywood soiree. Why aren’t we surprised?!
We’ve just gotta photoshop ourselves in, I guess?
It’s been a year of big wins for Bollywood women with small budget female-driven films like Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi crossing not only box-office numbers, but also sweeping away all the awards. We witnessed the grandeur of Padmaavat where Deepika Padukone supported the film on her shoulders even with two A-lister men as her co-stars. How then was it so difficult to find female voices to have an ‘extensive and fruitful interaction’ with.
If the government of India needs some help with women in the industry, we’ve got a few women that could potentially talk about GST with you.
Meghna Gulzar: She’s given us gems like Raazi and Talvar and has not only won the critic’s hearts, but also crossed big box-office numbers.
Alia Bhatt: This powerhouse of talent is winning all the awards, thanks to her superb performance as Sehmat in Raazi. She has also starred in outstanding films like Udta Punjab, Highway, and Dear Zindagi to name a few.
Deepika Padukone: Another exceptional performer, DP had her big win as Rani Padmini in Padmaavat.
Zoya Akhtar: Giving us some of the biggest gems of cinema like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, this writer-director also created magic on-screen with Lust Stories this year.
Anushka Sharma: She brought the horror genre to the big screen this year with her film Pari and as a producer and actor even did films like NH10 and PK that showed a mirror to India.
Ashwini Tiwari Iyer: The director of heartwarming films like Nil Battey Sannata starring Swara Bhasker and Ratna Pathak Shah also gave a blockbuster hit with her romantic comedy, Bareily Ki Barfi. Doesn’t she deserve a seat at the table?
Ekta Kapoor: She’s the joint MD of Balaji Telefilms and boasts of nearly 40 films in her 17 year long career. She’s definitely one of the most powerful names in the film industry today.
Priti Shahani: The president of the renowned Junglee Pictures, she knows how to make the big bucks as well as get critics to praise her work. Her company has made six films which are Dil Dhadakne Do, Bangistan, Talvar, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Raazi, and Badhaai Ho. YEP. A winner, yes. A part of the delegation, nope.
There are many issues pertaining to the gender divide that are so deep-rooted that will not get solved in a day. But the first step towards this dream of equality that we’re all living is representation – our voices and stories NEED to be heard. Hopefully, not only males get the mail next time!
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