At the inaugural session on women’s safety and cinema at the 55th IFFI, Imtiaz Ali, Bhumi Pednekar, Suhasini Maniratnam, Vani Tripathi Tikoo and Khushboo Sundar discussed the attitude toward women on set, how newcomers are treated and more. When asked whether the film industry can change, they shared personal accounts, stressing that, overall, film sets are safe spaces.

Discussing safety on sets, Suhasini Maniratnam said that her husband Mani Ratnam recently “threw out a person from the set because he crossed a line.”

To this Bhumi added, “Okay, you take that first step where you make sure that person is not on your set. But that person will be working on some other set. What are those strong steps we can take so that when there is a true perpetrator, that person is punished?”

Suhasini asked Imtiaz, “Can you tell what happens if there is a perpetrator and a violation? How does a film unit react to it?”

Imtiaz replied, “There have been three people that I have sent back from different sets, from different cases. I’m happy that there were only three.”

Recalling one of those incidents, he said, “We were shooting Highway on the rural highway and there were no proper vanity vans back in 2013. Alia had to change, go for nature’s call in unusual places. Once I had to send this guy back from the set when he was trying to be around her during those times. So yes, it did happen with me as a filmmaker thrice, but not anymore. Times have changed, changed drastically. Actresses are really safe on the sets. It’s not like that anymore.”