Wednesday,
August
01,
2007
Similar
to
Indian
society,
Bollywood
is
also
male
dominated
in
many
ways
-
be
it
the
theme
of
the
movie
or
remuneration
to
the
actor
or
the
professional
lifespan.
Unfortunately,
the
bias
is
also
affecting
the
few
female
directors
who
are
coming
to
the
fore.
Though
their
films
are
critically
acclaimed,
commercial
success
is
eluding
them
for
long.
Sai
Paranjpaye
has
made
around
a
dozen
films,
most
of
which
have
been
appreciated
by
connoisseurs.
But
amongst
names
like
Jadu
Ka
Shankh,
Begaar,
Sikander,
Dabcherry
Milk
Project,
Captain
Laxmi,
Freedom
From
Fear,
Sparsh,
Books
That
Talk,
Angootha
Chhaap,
Disha,
Papeeha,
Chooriyan,
Saaz
and
Bhago
Bhoot,
only
Chasme
Baddoor
and
Katha
did
well
at
the
box-office.
Some
of
Kalpana
Lazmi's
notable
works
are
Ek
Pal,
Rudaali,
Darmiyaan,
Daman,
Kyun
and
Chingari.
Actor-turned-director
Aparna
Sen
is
quite
popular
in
Bengali
cinema.
36
Chowringhee
Lane
,
15
Park
Avenue
and
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Iyer
are
some
of
her
acclaimed
films,
apart
from
Vishwas,
Bombay
Talkies,
Sagina,
Iman
Dharam,
Kotwal
Saheb,
Paroma
and
Ek
Din
Achanak.
Then
there
are
Tanuja
Chandra,
Meera
Nair,
Deepa
Mehta,
Leena
Yadav
and
Bhavna
Talwar,
who
are
yet
to
taste
proper
commercial
success.
The
only
exception
has
been
Farah
Khan
who
debuted
with
the
hit
Main
Hoon
Na.
Her
second
film,
Om
Shanti
Om,
also
looks
promising.
Trade
analyst
Indu
Mirani
says:
"When
a
woman
is
in
the
director's
seat,
people
generally
think
the
film
deals
with
a
social
cause
or
is
a
women-oriented
one." At
the
same
time,
Indu
feels
that
it
would
be
unjust
to
label
all
women
directors
unsuccessful,
just
because
there
are
so
few
of
them
in
the
industry.
The
days
to
come
will
sweep
in
the
change,
feels
Indu,
with
more
new
female
entrants
in
the
field.
If
all
goes
well,
Ahana
Deol,
Deepti
Naval
and
Manisha
Koirala
will
soon
be
calling
shots
on
the
sets
and
laughing
all
the
way
to
the
bank.