Renuka Shahane on the Double Standard for Women Directors: ‘It’s Looked Upon as More of a Hobby Than a Profession’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Renuka Shahane and Sonam Nair open up about the challenges women directors continue to face in an industry where men have traditionally donned the director’s hat. While speaking with Variety India about the second season of their series “Dupahiya,” Shahane points out how women’s work behind the camera is often not given the same professional weight as their male counterparts.

The “Tribhanga” director says, “Even today, female directors are less in percentage compared to the male directors all over the world. It is looked upon as more of a hobby than a profession. The men, on the other hand, are looked upon as the people running their houses. So them being directors is taken as a professional thing. Even if they fail, they are given more opportunities. But for us, people are like, ‘Oh, she can manage this because it's just a hobby of hers.’”

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Nair, who directed both the seasons of “Dupahiya” and has projects like “Gippi” and “Masaba Masaba” to her name, shares how the industry treated her as a young filmmaker. Making her directorial debut at the age of 27 with “Gippi,” Nair quips about facing scrutiny for being a young female director. She chimes in, “I was also very young when I started directing. People were taking me as a young person and also a woman. So the tone was like, ‘How do you have the audacity to direct me?’ They were like, ‘How do you tell me what to do?’ In terms of hiring crew or cast members, it would always be like, ‘But you are just a young girl in a dress. How are you going to direct?’ Whereas, if a guy at 27 years of age wants to direct, he is a prodigy. He is termed as young and smart. So, there was that tone for a while for me. Now, I don't get that anymore. People have understood I have worked enough and deserve to be here.”

The two also spoke about the growing presence of women across film sets, including in roles that have historically been male-dominated. Nair believes having more women around has made a difference. “It helps a lot because women are just better at their jobs. If you want to get a job done well, then hire women,” she adds.

Shahane, meanwhile, recalls early days of being a young actress and how isolating film sets felt when women were rarely part of the crew. The actor-director explains, “The only other female with you in sets previously, even outdoors, was your hairdresser. It’s a very lonely kind of feeling because everybody else has high testosterone and you can only share your problems with your hairdresser. Now when I see women around on sets, it is comforting and warm.”