Kalki Koechlin Says Toxic Masculinity Still Exists In The Commercial Cinema And We Need More Women Storytellers. We Couldn’t Agree More
There are only a few celebrities who are not afraid to speak their minds and will call a spade a spade. One of them is Kalki Koechlin. It’s almost like the characters she has played in the movies are so much like her – sensible, strong and someone who won’t take punches. That’s one of the many reasons I love her.
In the recent interview, she opened up about being an outsider, social media trolling and stereotypes she faced in Bollywood. Talking about the film industry, she also said that toxic masculinity that exists in the commercial cinema and, well, we are not surprised. With films like Kabir Singh, War and Baaghi 3 (why are they going on making parts of this series is beyond me BTW), it is clear that toxic masculinity is very much present in the mainstream Bollywood. But Kalki is hopeful and want to see a change.
Speaking about the toxic masculinity in commercial cinema, she said, “Things are changing because of the web series. We are seeing a lot of content that is non-commercial, raw, truthful and more reflective of the real society we live as opposed to Bollywood dream of bling, songs and dance.”
She added, “The scales have been balanced and things are changing so I am hopeful but there’s still a lot more change. We need more women telling the story. There’s still a lot of toxic masculinity in the commercial cinema. I am loving the fact that we have shows like Delhi Crime which is led by a very strong female lead. We need more of that.”
Watch the video here.
Also Read: Kabir Singh Becomes The Most Searched Film Of 2019. We Are A Nation That Loves Its Toxic Masculinity.
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We definitely agree with what Kalki said. While women-led web series like Aarya and Rasbhari, Guilty and Hundred gaining momentum with the audience, why aren’t we seeing more of such women-centric stories with a strong female character in the commercial cinema? It shouldn’t be a movement limited to content made for OTT platforms.
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If you really think about the films that have a strong woman character but are not based on real women, like say Panga, Thappad and Mardani, the number is actually quite less. You could count them on your fingers in one hand. We definitely need some strong women characters from films for the young girls to look up to.
Another actress, Anushka Sharma also recently said in an interview that women-led stories are much braver and we need to bring in more of that. With women actors like Anushka Sharma and Priyanka Chopra turning producers and storytellers, it’s good that we are see some more women-led films with a strong female in the lead. It’s time the male producers and directors also start investing in the strong women stories rather than selling toxic masculinity through their films, don’t you think?
