Filmmaker-writer Tahira Kashyap Khurrana believes there is a need for more layered and complex characters to be written for women in cinema. The 38-year-old writer-director, who is making her Bollywood directorial debut with “Sharmaji Ki Beti” starring Sakshi Tanwar, Divya Dutta and Saiyami Kher, said there is a need for creating more well-rounded women characters. Alec Baldwin Spotted in Tears Following Shooting on Rust Sets That Left Film’s Cinematographer Dead, Director Wounded.

"Woman is a stereotype of herself in varied movies, OTT perhaps is changing but at the same time, (in) films (it) is a major issue. I see men having complex characters but women are either white or black. "We are interesting people and we have a lot of layers to us, we are complex species and we have too many stories and fun elements,” Kashyap Khurrana said. Salaga, Kotigobba 3 Roar at the Box-Office; Kannada Film Industry Is Upbeat After the Success of Two Big Releases.

She was speaking at the India Film Project 2021 during the session 'Women in focus: With more women producing films and TV shows than ever before, are we going to see a new wave of stories and representation of women on screen?' For the filmmaker, cinema is all about breaking stereotypes and writing newer kinds of roles for women across all age groups.

Kashyap Khurrana also opened up about the difficulties she faced in mounting her maiden directorial project. "It was very tough to mount a project based on five women in different age groups. Either she is too small or is not in the category of heroine, or she is in 40s. There are stories for 20 to 30 age groups of women, I have a problem with that."

Producer Ashwini Yardi, who backed Akshay Kumar-starrer “Oh My God” and serves as showrunner on Netflix series “Masaba Masaba”, echoed Kashyap Khurrana and said she always makes an attempt to explore different facets of women on screen. "In ‘Masaba Masaba', though Masaba is the protagonist, Neena Gupta ji is also an equal and it is her story of ageism. It was all tackled well. But it happened on OTT, it needs to happen more in films, like ‘Badhaai Ho' did.

"I have consciously decided to have women across everything that I do, like when I did ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi - Fear Factor' in India, I made sure we have a women team to break the idea that women are not strong." Kashyap Khurrana said she fails to understand why film directors are identified on the basis of their gender. "We never say it is a female doctor or engineer. I would like to reach a day when it is just a director and not a woman director. Even if it's a man who is directing a film, there has to be a whole lot of knowledge and awareness and understanding of other gender, which men are lacking.

"We need more women filmmakers but we also need men who are aware and know the other part (well),” she said. Producer Guneet Monga, known for backing films like “The Lunchbox”, and “Masaan”, said despite her films receiving critical acclaim, she still has to prove herself everyday. "I thought after ‘The Lunch Box' life will be easy. If you have done well with critics then it is like you haven't done anything at box office and if that is done then it is called an exception and that it will not happen again and again. So, every time I have to prove myself and I am still at it."

Kashyap Khurrana said that as a writer, she is often asked to rope in her husband, actor Ayushmann Khurrana, in the stories that she is trying to tell but she always stood her ground. "In my own stories that I have pitched and I have been told to put a 25-year-old boy, fit him anywhere or take Ayushmann. If I had to do it with him, I would have done it ten years ago. "It is tough for me to get myself heard because more often than not, when people come on board, they feel I will get my other half in the film."

She further said that it is difficult to tell authentic stories about women, who are not designed to suit a particular prototype. "I am happy that we are taking baby steps. I am waiting for a day where there is representation of women across all ages and not just limited to a bracket for people who are in the running," she added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)