'Will challenge how women are presented in films'

Bhumi Pednekar

I have butterflies in my stomach," smiles director Alankrita Shrivastava, who has achieved what most filmmakers dream of. Her next offering, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare - featuring Bhumi Pednekar and Konkona Sensharma - has made it to the official selection of Busan International Film Festival. The satire will have its world premiere at Asia's top film fest on October 3.

While acknowledging that the premiere is the "most glorious" moment of the filmmaking process, she admits that the honour also has her wrought with anxiety. "It's like giving birth to a child and letting it out in the world. The film will have a life of its own."

Konkona Sensharma

In the eight years since she graduated to direction, Shrivastava has developed a unique voice - her last two outings, Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017) and Made In Heaven, had strong women at their core, taking charge of their destinies.

Quiz her how this film will alter the representation of women in cinema, and she says, "My endeavour is to constantly challenge the way women are represented in Indian popular culture. Society and cinema try to put women into boxes - 'good', 'brave' or a caricature vamp. We need to do away with these boxes. Women characters can do cowardly things; that makes them real. And yet, find their moments of courage. Through my writing, I try to capture that in-between-ness of women. Dolly Kitty is my boldest attempt at expressing the moral ambiguity of women."

Alankrita Shrivastava

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