Exclusive! Mrs Undercover director Anushree Mehta: It's a great time for women in cinema

Anushree Mehta

Watch Mrs. Undercover on OTTPlay.

Indian women are making a name for themselves on the international stage in all fields, even cinema.

Debutant director Anushree Mehta, who is gearing up for the release of her film Mrs Undercover on ZEE5 on April 14, spoke to us about why it is important for women to be in authoritative positions in business to change the bigger picture in cinema.

When asked about the current opportunities for women in Indian cinema, not only for actresses but also for technicians and filmmakers, Anushree told OTTplay, "It is a great time for women in cinema, both behind and in front of the camera. You see, representation of women on both sides of the camera is important for overall growth."

She explained, "Behind the camera, whether as a director, a DOP, a producer, a studio head, or as people in the decision-making positions who greenlight projects, when women hold positions there, the overall story for women changes massively. I feel that the time is now. Look, women are generally interesting beings, so naturally, the story of a woman is always interesting and inspiring. But we need to be in a position of authority. We are multi-talented personalities, and yes, we are like Maa Durga with 10 hands. The biggest success story of women behind the camera is Guneet Monga, who produced a documentary that was directed by a female director (Kartiki Gonsalves), and they won an Oscar for India."

Anushree also believes that in the last 10 years, the conversations around women's empowerment have helped content creators find a huge market for women-centric stories.

However, when it comes to writers, the director feels that a creative mind should not be limited to gender.

Anushree added, "It is true that women telling women's stories is always exciting, but I think one should not judge a creative mind based on gender. A filmmaker should be able to tell a story that actually speaks to them, beyond gender. Yes, as a woman, I probably would understand another woman better. But there is an interesting and nuanced take that a man can have on a woman. Queen (directed by Vikas Bahl) is the biggest example of this. So, it is about exploring a story, a mind, a journey."

Mrs Undercover stars Radhika Apte, Sumeet Vyas, Rajesh Sharma, Roshni Bhattacharya, Biswajit Chakraborty, Laboni Sarkar, Rudrashish Majumder, Indrasish Roy, and Saheb Chatterjee.

It will be available to stream on the OTTplay app and on ZEE5 starting April 14.

Share