One of the sessions held at FICCI Frames this year celebrated women’s contribution to the world of films and television. Talking about how it is difficult to back stories headlined by female actors, producer Ekta Kapoor, known for films like The Dirty Picture, Veere Di Wedding and Thank You For Coming, who was a part of the panel discussion, said, “I am making a film about three women and there are so many people who ask if people will go to theatres to watch a film about women. TV has always been about women, with men doing smaller roles, but in films the commerce changes.”

She further added, “I feel that is mainly because even today a woman is dependent on her husband to buy the tickets for a theatrical film. And after the pandemic, it has become far more difficult to make a film led by women because a film with a big male star is where the commerce works.”

Sharing what urged her to make the kind of films that she does, Ekta Kapoor explained, “We should stop dividing women into bad and good. Women should not try to fit into a particular category. Nobody should be judged. I remember coming across many women who refused to do things because they would be judged as bad women, and this inspired me to make bad-girl stories. It is time to stop putting people on a pedestal. They need to just be.”