Bollywood has always been plagued with men writing female characters. That invariable leads to showcasing of a very stereotypical representation of the women onscreen. And that unfortunately hasn’t changed in generations. However, in this new age, there are a few female scriptwriters who are changing the game and trying to bring a certain level of connection to their women characters onscreen.
Here are 5 such female scriptwriters that are loved for their characterisation of women in their movies:
Zoya Akhtar
The craziness provided by Zoya Akhtar for all the women-centric roles is commendable. Safeena, Ayesha, Laila or Farah – all her characters in her films have been strong and independent. These independent women characters are the ones who’ve inspired so many females in the real world. There is a certain sense of ownership that Akhtar manages to bring into all these women. These characters are ready to fight for their rights and always have that never give up attitude – a trait that was missing in the female characters written by men earlier.
Kanika Dhillon
Be it, Rani, from ‘Haseen Dillruba’, Rumi of ‘Manmarziyaan’, Rashmi from ‘Rashmi Rocket’, Bobby from ‘Judgemental Hai Kya’, Nanki from ‘Guilty’ or Mukku from ‘Kedarnath’ – Kanika Dhillon has always found the connection, love and admiration for these characters from the audiences. The bold, bubbly, bindass women characters written by Dhillon have a profound way of capturing women in their real-world element and that is timeless.
Alankrita Shrivastava
‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ – a movie that was controversial yet the most loved one. Alankrita Shrivastava took the cinemas by storm with a story like this. The representation of women in the film was something that the Indian audiences had not experienced before. With Srivastava’s presentation, people began to notice that there are things that even women desire and they’re not coy about it.
Reema Kagti
Piku, Ashima, Aditi are some characters to remember written by Reema Kagti and loved by billions of people all over the world. She manages to write characters who make decisions that are different and outlandish for the world, but are absolutely right for them. The character arc that Kagti manages to pull off is something that missing in most of the women characters which are written by men.
Anvita Dutt
Queen – a movie that was praised by Amitabh Bachchan, and numerous other celebrities. It was referred to as a turning point of Indian Cinema with a female led movies. The admiration and love received by both Dutt and the lead actress Kangana Ranaut made the movie loved across the globe. It is still one of the strongest female oriented movies made in the history of Indian cinema.
These are the top 5 female scriptwriters who keep their heads up by providing us with Independent, strong, out-of-the-box women characters for the audiences to enjoy and learn from.
