Film Fare

INTERVIEW
been producing
interesting regional
cinema. After
producing the
National Awardwinning
Marathi
film, Ventilator and
Kay Re Rascala,
it has bankrolled
Firebrand to
be directed by
Arunaraje Patil. She
has also produced
films in Bhojpuri
(Bam Bam Bol Raha
Hai Kashi), Punjabi
(Sarvann) and
Sikkimese (Pahuna).
“I’d like to give
“I was told actresses
do such femaleoriented
roles
towards the end of
their careers. I just
liked the role,” she
reasons.
The talk
veers to the
#MeToo
campaign
that’s sweeping
across America. She
states that it’s not just
women, who face
sexual harassment
but men as well.
She has heard some
has come across
misogyny in the
industry. She
points out it exists
across society but
gets talked about
more when it
comes to the film
industry. “People
don’t want to know
what happens in
a corporate or a
government office
or a school. But
if an actress or a
director turns around
and speaks, it gets
interesting,” she
grimaces. “Every
she grew up in an
environment where
charity was a way
of life. Her mother,
Dr Madhu Chopra,
a gynaecologist,
made sure she had
free beds for those,
who couldn’t afford
a doctor during
childbirth. Her
moment of epiphany
came when once
she returned home
to find her maid’s
daughter reading a
book in her library.
Upon enquiry,
the child said she
UNICEF approached
her as their Indian
ambassador. “That
changed my life at
so many levels,”
she claims. She
visited slums in
Mumbai, visited
Kolhapur, Jaipur and
discovered amazing
stories. She met a
16-year-old, who
had to pull out of
school to look after
her ailing parents.
The girl saved money
and bought a sewing
machine. And began
tailoring clothes to
EVERY WOMAN AROUND THE WORLD, NOT JUST IN INDIA, IN SOME FORM OR THE OTHER, HAS DEALT WITH
HARASSMENT. TODAY AMERICA IS COMING OUT WITH IT AND IT’S CLEANSING
Quantico
With team A Kid Like Jake
Baywatch
opportunities to
new directors and
make films within
a sensible budget.
Creatively, my mind
is exploding with
things I want to do.”
She adds, “Because
I am new, I can
take chances. Like
I did with Aitraaz
in the beginning
of my career.” She
played a vamp in
an era where it was
considered hara-kiri
for heroines. Madhu
Bhandarkar’s
Fashion too
happened quite
early in her career.
harrowing stories
from male actor and
model friends in
India. “The murky
part happens with
the gatekeepers at
the entry point.
Casting directors,
who probably can’t
even get entry into
Yash Raj, Dharma or
Nadiadwala kind of
production houses,
drop names and
take advantage of
struggling actors,”
she reveals. She
adds that though
she personally
hasn’t experienced
harassment, she
woman around
the world, not just
in India, in some
form or the other,
has dealt with
harassment. Today
America is coming
out with it and it's
cleansing. Slowly,
other countries will
follow,” she opines.
She says that society
as a whole needs to
appreciate women
who are speaking
out, instead of
questioning their
motives.
Priyanka has
been involved in
charity and mentions
wanted to study but
her parents only had
enough money to
educate her brothers.
That encounter
made her start her
foundation, which is
self-funded now. She
has reached across to
around 80 children
through it. “I realised
being a public
person, people will
hear me out. So I
started associating
myself with
Thalassemia, cancer,
AIDS, education of
children, especially
girls, in India.
A decade ago,
make ends meet.
“She attended school
at night. Today, she’s
an entrepreneur at
21.” She continues,
“Then I came across
a girl in a slum in
Mumbai, who at 13
started imparting
sex-education
because she was
infected with HIV.
People said woh
pagal ho gayee hai,
ladki bigad gayee
hai. But her father
stood by her because
he had seen a lot of
people die. Things
like that change your
life…” They do.