Actor-producer Richa Chadha; director, screenwriter, and producer Kiran Rao; and producer Guneet Monga, discussed how women are redefining Indian cinema on day one of the India Today Mumbai Conclave 2024. 

The trio spoke about the significant impact of women in redefining Indian cinema in recent years and the evolving roles of women not just in front of the camera, but also behind it.

They delved into the global success of Indian films like Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' – a Cannes Grand Prix winner, ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ and ‘Laapataa Ladies’ on international platforms, films that highlighted the importance of female solidarity and the challenges faced by women.

Kiran Rao's 'Laapataa Ladies' has been selected as India's official entry for the Academy Awards 2025 in the best international film category.

About her experience while making the film, she said, “The story spoke to me, particularly because it was a story of two girls searching for their freedom, for their opportunity, for their voices. Stories like that interest filmmakers like me intrinsically, especially because I feel we do not see enough stories of women and by women.”

On whether there is a burden of giving social messages through films as a woman producer or director somewhere down the line, Rao said, "I think it's exceedingly important that we invest much more in women storytellers, producers, and actors in projects helmed by women. So I don't think it's a byproduct. If anything, it made me realise that I'm most keenly aware and most interested in women's experiences, and  will continue to want to have interesting and nuanced women characters in my films.”

Recalling the challenges of casting for the film, Rao explained the decision to cast fresh faces to keep the story organic. 

“I think not having a star cast was important, as we felt that the story would be that much more relatable and enjoyable if it remained rooted and organic. And I think that's one of the things that the audience has responded to - the completely ‘fresh faces’ - so that one forgot who they were, and immersed themselves in their world. I think that went in our favour.”

She also discussed the importance of humour in addressing uncomfortable social issues. “We worked very hard to take all these ideas that we wanted to put into the story, experiences of women, everyday struggles that they have at different stages of life -to put it very seamlessly into the story, and try and weave it into humour. Because nobody wants a lecture when they go to see a film. And honestly, I think humour is one of the best ways to address some of the stickiest, most uncomfortable problems.”
 
“It was an automatic choice, because it is a satire, and it's quite unbelievable getting swapped on a train because of a ‘ghunghat’. So it lent itself very naturally to satire and humour. I think when we learn to laugh at ourselves, we can take complicated and uncomfortable problems and laugh at them, and we make space for conversation, to be able to talk to people who we think are very different from us.” 

The discussion also covered the role of independent film labs in supporting quality filmmaking.

Chadha, who along with actor-husband Ali Fazal produced their first film ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ directed by Shuchi Talati, said, “ The first thing to remember is that independent cinema of any kind needs support. Gurmeet Monga has been my producer for Girls Will Be Girls, and she's often spoken about this, how we need to have more labs.”

Explaining the benefits of having subsidies, and co-production treaties, she said, “When you have structures in place and some amount of scholarship money or subsidy money, or soft money that you don't have to return to the investors, it makes the job of the creators easier.”

“So, yes, we are doing something right in terms of scriptwriting, but the talent was always there. It's good if we have some more structures like this in place where we can make sure that more films of good quality can be made,” she emphasised.

Chadha shed light on why she chose to produce the ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ film. She said, "This is a script that I was involved in right from the beginning, because my college batchmate actually wrote it. So we are the girls from ‘Girls Will Be Girls’. And this is our dream to take it to the international stage."

Chadha also spoke about the challenges and rewards of taking on the mantle of a producer, “One of the reasons I am trying to become a producer is to have more creative control over my destiny as an artist and to be able to have all the say in how it is marketed, produced, how it's positioned, who we can cast and so on. It's about freedom in a sense - a pursuit of confidence, what allows you to be your full, well-fleshed-out self."

Stressing the significance of having female friendships and showing solidarity for women in the industry, she said, “The film is about a mother-daughter relationship, and I think my relationship with my director is a bit like that.” 

Referring to Monga and Rao, she added, “Also, female friendships are so important. I turn to both of these women on stage to seek advice from them in our professional and sometimes even personal lives. I think female solidarity, women standing by each other, teamwork and looking out for each other, is very, very crucial, and it bears good results in the world.”

Monga, producer of the 2023 Academy Award-winning documentary short film, 'The Elephant Whisperers', stressed the importance of an early and robust campaign to increase the chances of success on the Oscar stage. “Last year was special with ‘Elephant Whisperers’, ‘All The Light We Can Imagine’, and ‘RRR’ in three separate categories. But at the core of it, we must remember it’s an American award, and US distribution is at the centre of it. Running the distribution and thinking of it early on is really important. It’s a huge deal even just getting the nomination,” she revealed.

Rao spoke about her return to filmmaking after a hiatus of ten years, and the challenges of balancing motherhood and filmmaking. 

“I wanted to be in the right headspace. I was working all the time, but I never got to the stage when I was absolutely happy with what I was writing. I think it was because a lot of my creative self went into being a mom, and I was very creatively satisfied being a mother.”

She added, “Also, we women always pride ourselves on being multitaskers and doing so many things, when we should stop and ask for more help and say, 'Look I would like to pause everything and direct a film'. But you feel a sense of responsibility in making sure that everybody else is also doing well - your family, your work colleagues, everyone else. And that's something I think that as women, we need to do - step up and ask for help and look after ourselves."

The speakers emphasised the importance of having more women in the workspace and creating more space for women in the industry. 

“In my working career, going forward, I'm going to ensure that I have at least 50% women in my cast and crew list. That’s the only way to ensure that women get a place at the table. We have to do it ourselves,” Rao declared.

Monga signed off by stating, “I would go one step further and say, don’t wait for a seat on the table. Create your table, and sit on it and invite your people. When one woman walks through the door, she just makes space for them all."