Wanted: More Women Heading The Machine

Women directors have yet to follow the trend their male counterparts are encashing—turning producer

- Giridhar Jha

WHEN it comes to taking risks, Team India captain Virat Kohli definitely has a match in his wife Anushka Sharma. The Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) actress had turned producer in 2015 with NH10 (2015), which was well received, and followed it up with Phillauri last year, another successful film. Her banner, Clean Slate Films, is set to release two more offbeat films this year—Kaneda, directed by Navdep Singh of NH10 fame and Pari.

Even though Anushka has been consistent in doing big-budget movies as an actress—PK (2014), Sultan (2016) and Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017), opposite the three super Khans—she has thought it wise to contribute her mite to parallel cinema with content-rich projects.

Priyanka Chopra, who has already gained a toehold in Hollywood with the successful television series Quantico, is the other actress to have turned producer. She set up her banner, Purple Pebbel Pictures in 2015, to promote reg­ional cinema in Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Bhojpuri and even Sikkimese.