Richa
Chadha
Praises
Rani,
Sridevi,
Nutan
&
Nargis
"I
never
buy
this
'women-oriented'
term.
I
don't
like
it.
I
have
been
hearing
this
term
since
2012
that
'English
Vinglish'
is
coming.
I
always
turn
around
and
say
'You
never
call
the
other
things
male-oriented'.
But
I
guess
it'll
be
a
thing,
till
it
becomes
a
norm."
"Be
it
Nutan,
Nargis Sridevi or
Rani
(Mukerji),
these
women
have
done
films
which
they
have
carried
on
their
shoulders
completely.
There
was
an
entire
alternate
cinema
movement
with
Smita
Patil,
Shabana
Azmi,
Deepti
Naval, Mita
Vashisht and Neena
Gupta...
These
are
great
actresses
and
they
have
done
some
excellent
work," Chadha told PTI in
an
interview
here.
Richa
Chadha:
Men
Control
The
Business
Year
2018
saw
films
like
"Padmaavat"
and
"Raazi",
fronted
by
women,
emerge
as
some
of
the
biggest
money-spinners
and Chadha says
the
audience
has
always
been
ready
for
a
female
star
who
would
drive
the
crowd
towards
the
theatres.
"I
think
it's
the
producers,
distributors
and
exhibitors
who
have
not
been
ready.
It
is
an
issue.
"Men
control
the
business
and
they
say
the
film
is
female-oriented
and
it
won't
work
till
its
ti*s
and
as*.
But
you
don't
know,
a
good
story
connects
somewhere,"
she
adds.
Richa
Chadha
On
Shakeela
The actor is
currently
in
the
city
shooting
for
her
next,
Shakeela,
the
eponymous
biopic
on
the
popular
Malayalam
adult
star.
Directed
by
Indrajit
Lankesh,
the
film
narrates
the
rags-to-riches-to-rags
story
of
Shakeela
Khan,
who
ruled
the South
Indian
cinema of
the
'90s.
She
has
acted
in
several
adult
films
in
languages
spanning
Tamil,
Telugu,
Malayalam
and
Kannada.
Richa
On
Shakela
Being
Compared
To
Dirty
Picture
Shakeela
is
already
being
compared
to
Vidya
Balan's
critically-acclaimed
hit,
Dirty
Picture.
Inspired
by
southern
star
Silk
Smitha's
life,
the
2011
film
explored
the
journey
of
a
woman
who
dreams
to
be
a
star,
goes
on
to
become
a
sex
symbol
and
following
repeated
failures,
commits
suicide.
Many
claim
that
"Shakeela",
the
film
appears
to
have
been
cut
from
the
same
cloth
but
Chadha
disagrees.
"Comparisons
will
happen
but
we
can't
do
anything
about
it.
I
can't
escape
that.
I
thought
about
it
but
now
I'm
not
going
to
fight
it.
Shakeela
became
a
star
when Silk
Smitha killed
herself.
Within
two
years
of
Silk's
death,
Shakeela
was
a
superstar."
Richa
Chadha
On
Shakeela
"She
was
a
ready
replacement
of
somebody
who
had
just
passed
away.
It's
the
same
period,
the
aesthetics,
the
visuals
and
technically
too
things
are
same.
The
two
films
will
appear
similar
to
the
inexperienced
eye.
But
the
two
are
very
different.
It's
in
a
different
zone.
At
least
they
will
compare
me
to Vidya
Balan and
the
film
to
a
blockbuster
like
'Dirty
Picture'."
The
actor
says
Shakeela,
who
has
been
an
integral
part
of
the
biopic
from
the
outset,
is
a
living
example
of
feminism
in
practice.
"She
knows
her
career
and
personal
life
have
suffered
because
of
the
courageous
decisions
she
has
taken
to
stand
up
against
oppression
of
any
kind.
She
knows
she's
paying
the
price
for
it."
"I
could
imagine
any
person
in
her
place
as
being
bitter,
angry,
suicidal
or
dependent.
Going
to
school
and
learning
feminism
is
one
thing
and
living
feminism
is
another.
She
has
done
the
latter."
Shakeela
will
also
have
a
cameo
in
the
movie.
The
film
also
stars Pankaj
Tripathi and
the
makers
are
eyeing
on
a
release
date
post
March
2019.