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Dabba Cartel EXCLUSIVE: Shabana Azmi on Zoya Akhtar's dislike for 'female director' tag; 'I have had many arguments…'
In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Shabana Azmi, who recently starred in Dabba Cartel, opened up about Zoya Akhtar's dislike for the 'female director' tag.
Shabana Azmi recently starred in the Netflix series Dabba Cartel alongside Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, Shalini Pandey, Anjali Anand, and more. The show focuses on the lives of middle-class women who run a shady tiffin service. In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Azmi opened up about the term 'women-centric.' She mentioned that Zoya Akhtar didn't like the 'female director' tag. She revealed that they have had many arguments on this topic.
In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, Shabana Azmi was asked if it was right to position something as 'women-centric' in today's times. In response, she recalled her arguments with Zoya Akhtar. She said, "I have had many. Many arguments with Zoya on this. And she thinks that it shouldn't be called women-centric. I mean, she doesn't like to be called a female director."
Azmi continued, "I wonder about that. Because I feel there is so little visibility for women that… they are controlling the show, they're leading the show… I think it is important to bring that to the audience's notice. And hopefully a time will come when it'll become so common that we will not have to, but at the moment we are edging our way into becoming more visible."
Watch the full interview here!
When asked if the audience would stop saying 'women-centric' if we stopped using it, Shabana Azmi stated, "Aisa bilkul nahi hai; abhi bahut dur ki journey hai (It is not like that at all; the journey is still very far)."
The Dabba Cartel actress further shared, "Zoya said, 'Why should I be called a woman filmmaker?' I said, 'But I think it's very important.' Because I think men and women are different. They are not better; they are not worse, but they are different. And the difference needs to be celebrated. So, it's not that you choose subjects that are only about strong women or only one kind of woman. She can be a thief, she can be a queen, she can be a slum dweller, it can be a crime, it can be anything. But the gaze should be female, hopefully."
Shabana Azmi concluded by saying that otherwise, the arts have been dominated by the male gaze for a very long time.
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