New 'heroines' in Tollywood
Hyderabad: In 80 years of Telugu cinema, we have had many brilliant filmmakers. It's just that almost all of them have been men! Well, we have had a handful of exceptions like Bhanumathi, Vijaya Nirmala, B Jaya among others, but they've been too far and few in between. Mind you, the Telugu cinema industry is second only to Bollywood when it comes to number of films made annually. It would be no exaggeration to say then that the men call all the shots here.
But looks like the winds of change are finally sweeping the industry. This year we have had a couple of films directed by the women directors, Ala Modalaindi and Sega by Nandini Reddy and Anjana respectively. Technically, Sega is a Tamil film dubbed into Telugu but what is important to note is that they have shown women can do a decent job of making films. 'I believe women are as capable if not better than men at anything let alone filmmaking.
The likes of Bhanumathi and Vijay Nirmala have proved it long ago,'says actress Jayasudha. It is generally believed that women directors have a very limited success ratio when compared to men. Director B Jaya rubbishes such blanket generalisations saying, 'The perception stems from a misconception that women directors, by default , make only women centric films which have a limited patronage. It's not true. The likes of Farah Khan and Zoya Akhtar have broken that myth in Bollywood and there's no reason why the same can't happen in Tollywood, she reasons adding that the problem lies in the old-fashioned attitudes.
'In a male dominated world women have to be twice as good as any man doing the same job to be deemed good enough. It is a reflection of cultural attitudes and has little to do with a wom'an's proficiency to make films.' Director Anjana believes the problem lies elsewhere. 'At the end of the day, it is not about being a woman or a man but about directing your thoughts. When you are directing, you don't see yourself as a woman. You are just doing a job. Women face challenges in any profession. It is not a problem of the industry per se.
It is a social problem,' she states. 'Let's face it, nobody takes women directors seriously here. It is hard for men to imagine a woman dictating terms to 150 men working on a film. That's because men is what they have been used to so far,' says Nandini. Producer Tammareddy Bharadwaja, however, believes things are changing. 'With the success of films like Ala Modalaindi and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara both directed by women, the attitudes are bound to change. In the next four to five years we will see a lot more female participation in the technical side of filmmaking,' he says.
Nandini Reddy is also hopeful that things will change sooner rather than later. 'We have had women heads doing very well in television channels and we are seeing the spillover effect in cinema as well. A lot of women directors have told me that more and more actors are listening to their scripts these days. How much it will materialise is something we will have to wait and see but I am hopeful the turnaround will happen,' says Nandini.
News Posted: 16 August, 2011
|
