Commercial cinema offer great women characters now: Kiran Rao

Filmmaker Kiran Rao says Indian cinema has started coming out with better roles for women now and feels it would have been impossible to make a film like "Queen" a decade ago.
The Kangana Ranaut-starrer is often hailed as one of the best films to have been made in recent times on women.
When asked if Bollywood is coming out with good women empowerment cinema, Kiran said in an interview, "It's a start. I don't think a film like 'Queen' would have been a hit, or even be made ten years ago. It's great that in popular commercial cinema there are great women characters, wonderful roles for women."

The 42-year-old director says the film industry only scouts for talent irrespective of genders, and that is the reason why there are so many women working in Bollywood in various departments.
"As we all know many women work behind the scenes who may not be directors...We have women working everywhere and there is always room for more.
"The industry is welcoming, they only look at talent. We are only interested in your voice. There's no way more women are not going to be in the film industry as we go along. I firmly believe it," she further said.

At the upcoming '18th Jio MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival with Star', whose co-chairperson is Kiran, two new awards have been introduced, called 'best film on gender equality' and 'best Indian female filmmaker'.

The director hopes the awards will encourage more women to come in Bollywood.
"We hope so...The fact that films can be made with more sensitivity towards the questions of gender is something we believe is important to acknowledge. We have now made an award for that, because you can use advertisements which uses cliches or you can choose not to," Kiran said.
"It's a choice we all make. We would like to award somebody's decision to make a film that addresses this issue," she added.
On the work front, the "Dhobhi Ghaat" director said she is working on a project and hopes she comes out with it "soon.