Farah Khan is one of the few women filmmakers to break into the cliquish boys club of Bollywood. She makes big budget films with A-listers and often takes home crores of rupees for them. Khan has never made a woman-centric film, but her female characters have strong screen presences and important roles to play.
The filmmaker said that she is happy that more women-centric stories are being told nowadays and hoped that in the coming years, more movies on women will be made. However, Khan also added that she has always believed that gender should not be a deciding factor for any film (unless it is a gender-based film). In fact, the filmmaker said that the gender of a filmmaker is also irrelevant. Above all a filmmaker is a storyteller, so whether he is a man or a woman is not important, Khan said.
Talking about the REEL Movie Awards nominees, Farah Khan said, "I think directors are directors and they all have stories to tell. If you remove the name of the directors from these films, who is to say that a woman did not direct Mukti Bhawan and a man did not direct Lipstick Under My Burkha."
Khan also confessed that she is addicted to web series and believes that the content of Amazon Prime Videos and Netflix are far superior to many Bollywood films.The filmmaker said that there are no restrictions in terms of content when it comes to the web, which gives web series makers a lot of freedom. Khan said, “You can make a web series on just about anything and if it is good people will watch it. It also frees you as a storyteller and does not put the pressure of mujhe first day itna karna hai (I will have to earn so much on the first day)."
Talking about the REEL Movie Awards, Khan said, “It is a fabulous initiative”. The filmmaker said that she is happy that films which do not get any recognition in mainstream award shows have been nominated here. "These are different kinds of films, maybe not the ones you would see in mainstream award function, but I have enjoyed most of the films. Lipstick under My Burkha was my favourite. I have really enjoyed Newton, Hindi Medium and a few others." she added.
Khan said that she is happy that Bollywood is celebrating middle-class sentiments with many films being based in the small towns. She said that it is a good thing that Bollywood is trying to connect with rural India. “At one time in the 90s every movie was based in London; it was aspirational. But I think now it is real and people identify with these stories. I have always shot all my films in India. So, I think it is a good thing.” Said Khan.
Khan is one the four jurors of REEL Movie Awards. The other jury members are Sujoy Ghosh, Sudhir Mishra, and Nikkhil Advani. The awards show, which will be hosted on March 20, celebrates independent cinema and creative storytelling.
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