In fact that was on of the most vibrant topic discussed at this year's conclave in Chennai, 'Evolution of Women in Indian cinema'. The topic was discussed by yesteryear divas Nadiya, Lizzy Priyadarshan, Gautami and Suhasini Maniratnam under of the moderation of Kamal Haasan. The discussion started off with Suhasini reading some interesting facts about the empowerment of women in India. "45% of the women in India feels unfair treatment at the workplace and we are in the 115th place, just above Pakistan, in women empowerment,"she said.
In this healthy debate, Gautami stressed on the extra confidence that woman gain (or should gain) while she enters the filmdom while Lizzy Priyadarshan's said that the mindset of the audience should be changed as they are the one who drives the content.
Nadiya acknowledged Gautami's statement and further stated "It is nice when cinema can depict woman for what they are... family is very important in any woman's life but she should also have that extra space for herself." The diva's also questioned about the industry's mindset which provides only character roles (mother, sister or sister-in-law) to married actresses. Lizzy also pointed out that it is really embarrassing to act as a mother or sister to their costars. Suhasini said the best way to make an impact would be for women to turn producers.
The discussion ended on a positive note. "Making a film that appeals to the women need not be a woman centric film," she concluded. The committee also pointed out at directors like Balachander, Balu Mahendra and Bharathi Raja who wrote scripts that always had powerful woman characters.
