Indian cinema should take a cue from Hollywood's #metoo campaigners and the Malayalam film industry's recent woman initiative to get going on the road to shedding patriarchal hold over it

The year 2017 will go down as a defining one in the history of cinema and feminism. Patty Jenkins broke the glass ceiling with Wonder Woman, Sofia Coppola won Best Director for The Beguiled at Cannes (only the second woman to do so in history) and Greta Gerwig has given the world lady Bird. But the most defining moment of the year has been the #metoo movement due to which woman after woman started speaking out about sexual assault and harassment faced by her in Hollywood.

But in India, there is a disturbing silence. No Harvey Weinsteins being called out here. Because in India, patriarchy in society and hence in cinema is so deep rooted that we are not yet emboldened by our sisters from other continents to speak up. This veneer of a deeply patriarchal cinema as the norm will, perhaps, continue.

In India, we use cinema as a tool to perpetuate patriarchy. We continue to re-enforce stereotypes. The virginal love, the slutty vamp, the sacrificing wife, the martyred mother - women fit into boxes in ways that suit men; in ways that usually do not challenge patriarchy. Even films like Pink and Dangal, depend on the overbearing male patriarch/superhero to say things that women should be saying themselves. But, of course, who would hear them thenIJ And it is better that those things are said by people who are heard, rather than not said at all.

I made a film called lipstick Under My Burkha that was about the secret lives of four ordinary women in small town India. When I first thought up these characters and the story, I had no idea that the film would end up ruffling so many feathers. But when I was looking for the distribution of the film and when the CBFC refused to certify it, I realised how deep-rooted the male gaze on our cinema is and how coloured our system and our institutions are by that gaze.

For decades, we have been taught to see women and life in cinema through the male perspective - as objects for purposes that suit men, as people with no agency, to be objectified and stereotyped. The camera often captures women in that way, making other characters look at women in that way. The audience, including women, is expected to consume cinema through those eyes. So much so that we think watching stalking as love is normal, and that women are meant to be second fiddle.

Now we do see relatively more films being made with female protagonists but such films still lack a genuinely female perspective. So when a film emerges that looks at women from the female point of view, with empathy, as women who want control over their own bodies and lives, the film becomes unsuitable for an adult audience of a free and democratic country. That's because everything is geared towards not letting women speak.

I am now understanding through many conversations with female filmmakers across the world that this silencing of the female voice is a systematic tool used across the globe. The numbers are appalling. There is such a small percentage of women behind the camera that it is no wonder that cinema lacks a female voice.

That is not to say all women will make films about women with a strongly female gaze. But the climate of filmmaking will change entirely when it includes an equal number of women in every aspect.

We do not know what will happen when 50 per cent of the films are made by women, when 50 per cent of the films made are about women, when 50 per cent of the films have female cinematographers, when 50 per cent of the film crew is female, when 50 per cent of the decision makers in studios are women, when 50 per cent of the film distributors are women, when 50 per cent of the theatre programmers are women, when 50 per cent of the management teams of cinemas is women… We don’t know.

What we do know is that the culture of cinema in India as we know it now will change. The gaze will cease to be completely male. And many other kinds of films will get made. As we work bit by bit towards having many more women behind the camera, women will be able to speak out against sexual assault and harassment. They will be able to be free to channelise their energies into creating cinema.

The one remarkable event in 2017 has been the setting up of the Women in Cinema Collective by some courageous women in the Malayalam film industry. This collective has been set up to better the situation of women in the industry. Considering the deep sexism being practised actively in the industry, setting up this female collective is an act of bravery. Putting aside the threat to their own personal careers, these women are showing us the way.

The other interesting development in 2017 has been the setting up of the Indian Women Cinematographer's Collective. This is a great forum for women cinematographers to interact with each other and encourage young women across the country to pick up the camera. For those who don’t know, there are very few women cinematographers in India. And I do think that the portrayal of women (and men) will change when we have many more women wielding the camera.

The film industry is a place where women are badly outnumbered by the men. It is an industry that often works actively to strengthen patriarchal norms in the name of commerce. Everything goes because it sells! So, I if cinema in India has to be more inclusive of women, it needs the support of studios, distributors, exhibitors and, most of all, the audience.

As the audience, we need to be more discerning about wanting to see more inclusive cinema. We need to watch and support more films made with a female point of view. 2017 has been an encouraging year for women in Hindi cinema with more women directing and more films about women being made.

In retrospect, it is nothing short of historic that a small little film like lipstick Under My Burkha with a clearly female voice, was welcomed by cinema audiences. The fact that the film was certified, it found distribution and was a commercial success was possible only in 2017. 

The control of men over Indian cinema is not going to go overnight. But we have to keep chipping away at its predominantly patriarchal structure. This is an active and conscious act that needs to be done. It is not automatic and will not just happen. But if ever there was hope for the future, it is now. We, filmmakers and audiences together, must be the change we want to see.

(P.S. In 2018, I hope to watch Padmavati, S Durga and Nude in a theatre near me. And I hope to watch many more films made by women.)