Women in cinema have always been seen from a male gaze: Kriti Sanon

Panaji: Acclaimed for her role in Mimi where she played the role of a surrogate mother, actor Kriti Sanon said the film was a 'bold choice'.

The actor said this in conversation with journalist Rudrani Chattoraj at the 55th International Film Festival of India.

‘Why do you want to be pregnant in a film? Surrogacy is a serious topic. You'll become known as an art actor’ — these were some of the statements Kriti came across when she signed the film ‘Mimi’. She later went on to win a national film award for her performance in the film. 

“Playing Mimi gave the actor in me a certain confidence about the potential I believed I had. ‘Do Patti’ was also something that came out of my hunger to find something deeper, more emotional and layered,” she said about the recent Netflix release that centres around domestic violence. 

The actor is known for hits such as Dilwale, Bareilly ki Barfi, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya and Bhediya, among others. 

In a packed auditorium, Kriti’s voice was filled with grit and resilience as she spoke about women’s portrayal in cinema. “Women have always been seen from a male gaze — she looks perfect, she can feel shy, speaks softly, her smile is beautiful, she is an innocent girl who needs the hero to protect her from gundas,” she said. She questioned if women are really how they are portrayed on screen. “Women can also be flawed, can feel jealous, hurt and get angry and throw something just like a man.”

Speaking about women leading in different fields, be it cinema or business, she said, 'change will happen only if men and women both think in the same way'. Citing 'Mimi' as an example which was written and directed by a man, she quipped, “That was a man thinking of a woman. So there needs to be a perspective shift.”

In an earlier session with filmmaker Anand Gandhi and Pragya Mishra, head of government relations for ChatGPT, festival director Shekhar Kapoor claimed that a script written for a sequel to Mr India by his cook using artificial intelligence was 'better than scripts written by any Indian writer so far'.