Mumbai: Popular singer Sona Mohapatra took to social media to share a list of suggestions which she wants implemented in Bollywood to ‘smash the patriarchy’ the right way.
In a series of tweets, Mohapatra advocated for equal pay for female actors and encouraging female directors among others.
“Lets do this the right way dear Bollywood & India cus the rest is mostly hot air,” she tweeted.
Mohapatra’s suggestions are as follows.
- “PAY YOUR TOP ACTRESSES THE SAME AS YOUR TOP ACTORS. The gender wage gap in Bollywood is not a new phenomenon. Actresses are widely known to get paid less for an equal share of work and also command less respect and appreciation for their work.
- “WRITE ENOUGH WORTHY ROLES”
- “FILM THEM IN ‘SOLO SONGS’ TO MAKE THEM LARGER THAN LIFE? (NO, ITEM NUMBERS DON’T COUNT)”
- “SPEAK UP (AT LEAST ONCE?)” about ur superstar of ages, a poster boy of toxic masculinity, a bully, serial abuser of women’s rights.
- “BE MORE INCLUSIVE IN UR CHOICES OF FILM TECHNICIANS” Don’t assume a female DOP cannot shoot a big budget film cus she’s not ‘strong’ enough?! Some of the best films of west are shot by women!My fav;Ellen Kuras. Movie camera Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.
- WHY MALE SINGERS > FEMALE SINGERS? Worry and do something about the horrendous statistics of only 8/9 songs out of the 100 released by you having a female singer in #Bollywood. The solo female songs always reprise versions, never to be promoted.
- “BE ASHAMED OF THE SYSTEMIC-INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM” Be ashamed of the systemic-institutional sexism, misogyny & lopsided power structure in the industry where NOT ONE lead actress or actor spoke up about the inconvenient truths in the #MeToo movement. Almost everyone looked the other way.
- “TRUST WOMEN DIRECTORS” Trust women directors(not just the ones from the film families) with bigger production budgets. They are less likely to blow it up on wasteful ego-driven choices. Financing a woman driven project is difficult as hell.
- “Stop casting 50 plus Male ‘heroes’ in romantic angles with women half their age...
- “Cast older actresses for older women’s roles at least? Also, why should lead actresses be pushed to retirement and oblivion in their mid 30’s while men carry on endlessly??”