Fatima Sana Shaikh on the Lack of Strong Female Comedy Roles: ‘Slapstick Is Always Sexist’ (EXCLUSIVE)

While promoting her new series “Hunkkaar,” actor Fatima Sana Shaikh mentions how female characters in comedies are often taken for granted and have little to no character growth. Speaking exclusively to Variety India, Shaikh says there is a lack of of strong female characters being written in the genre anyway. Her co-star Zoya Hussain chimes in, stating that she’d want to be a part of comedy projects, given that the script makes her emotionally curious.

Addressing the over-reliance on stereotypes for laughs and gags, Shaikh says, “We do need good comedy shows. We tend to lean towards thrillers and dark films. And we’re only getting films like that. In general, lighter films are not being made these days.” She also believes the comedy genre tropes usually revolve around the way women look, their sexuality and their humiliation. “Slapstick is always sexist,” she shoots, agreeing that comedy can be funny without reducing female characters to the butt of the joke.

Related Stories

Fatima Sana Shaikh and Zoya Hussain on Aneet Padda’s Approach to ‘Hunkkaar’: ‘Everyone Including Aneet Took the Scenes to Another Level’ (EXCLUSIVE)

‘Hunkkaar: The Roar’ Review: Aneet Padda, Raghubir Yadav Stand Out In A Story About Faith, Power And Justice

Praising actresses from the 1990s and 2000s who have helmed comedy films before, Shaikh says there was greater room for women to explore comedy and different kinds of characters back then. She explains, “We don’t have enough lighthearted and comic roles for women. Vidya Balan’s comic timing is amazing. Juhi Chawla is also great. Back then, there were still varied roles that every actor played. Now, everybody is boxed in one way of looking, being or performing roles. Everything is one-dimensional. It wasn’t like that before. Madhuri (Dixit) was so distinctly different from Juhi (Chawla). And Preity Zinta was so distinctly different. Not only aesthetic-wise, even their performances were different.”

Observing that most comedies were once family-led experiences, she adds, “My last light-hearted film was ‘Aap Jaisa Koi.’ It was a PG-13 film. Before, even comedy was PG-13. Be it comedies from Amrish Puri or Om Puri. They played different characters which were palatable to a family. All of us could go to a theater and watch the films. Now most films are also A-rated.”

Zoya Hussain adds that she would be open to exploring the genre, provided she finds an emotional connection with the material. “I would love to do a comedy. I am very funny in life. It’s what you read and feel emotionally curious to do. I have no clue what my process is while choosing a script. I read what is offered to me. I would love to be a part of it [comedy], given I connect to something.”

For both Shaikh and Hussain, the issue is not necessarily that women cannot carry comedy, but that they are often not given enough to work with. Stronger writing, they suggest, could allow female characters in the genre to have the same room for personality and growth as their male counterparts.