Actress Kalki Koechlin says not many people understand what the word feminism means.
“There is a misunderstanding and lack of awareness about the word. Feminism seems to be tagged as a bunch of ranting women or women who are against men. The word feminism is about the equality of gender. A lot of people are feminist but they don’t even realise it,” she said.
In Bollywood, many celebrities have said they believe in gender equality but not feminism. “It’s just the fact that I think some people [within the industry] don’t realise what it means. The term feminism has got so much negative feedback. I think now it’s about making the word cool again,” said the 33-year-old.
Koechlin says bringing gender equality in cinema requires conscious effort. “It changes with time, it is about a social movement. I personally wait for those scripts. I am greedy for good roles, if it’s not happening, I’ll write something. As an artist I need to keep expressing myself.
“But for it to become a real movement it needs to be like a social awareness. Everyone needs to come together. It’s happening now where women issues are being talked about,” she added.
Koechlin, who is gearing up for her latest release Mantra, says things are changing within the commercial cinema space.
“Even commercial films like Piku and Queen are fine examples of films held by women and not the conventional hero. The content needs to change and the writing itself needs to be less hero-based.
“I don’t have a problem with [a] hero-based film but we have very few heroine-oriented movies. That writing needs to change. If it’s not happening, make it happen.”
Set in 2004, in the middle of a nationwide ‘India Shining’ campaign, Mantra tells the story of a family and through it the story of India post liberalisation.
Directed by Nicholas Kharkongor, the film also stars Rajat Kapoor and Shiv Pandit among others.
Mantra is scheduled to release on March 17 in India.
