THROUGH HER EYES

There has been a noticeable power shift in cinema. With more and more women taking a seat at the head of the table, it's a change we're rooting for

- NIKITA SAWANT

Women are spectacular at creating things – there, we said it. Over the years, we’ve had some of the most brilliant women filmmakers giving us masterpieces that are still talked about, and that’s no easy feat. In an industry still somewhat dominated by men, these women have taken their rightful place as creators, and brought to life stories of love, lust, grief, greed, freedom, friendship, and so much more.

From Bollywood hits like Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish to Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, and from Konkona Sen Sharma’s A Death In The Gunj to Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Nil Battey Sannata – there would be a gaping hole in the world of cinema if not for these films. Besides these power women, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention trailblazing directors like Alankrita Shrivastava, Deepa Mehta, Kiran Rao, Mira Nair, Nandita Das, Reema Kagti, and Zoya Akhtar, who brought the female gaze to the fore.

There’s something extremely satisfying to see stellar women directors making stellar movies with stellar actors, which then go on to push the envelope at national and international film festivals. In recent times, we’ve been there and done it all thanks to films like Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, Rima Das’s Village Rockstars 2, Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls, and Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies.

All We Imagine As Light premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix, besides being nominated at the Golden Globe Awards this year, and winning accolades at events such as the Chicago International Film Festival and Gotham Awards. On the other hand, Girls Will Be Girls premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, winning the World Cinema Dramatic (Audience) Award as well as the Special Jury Award for Acting won by Preeti Panigrahi (who played Mira) at the festival.