Actor Gul Panag points out that even though now we are seeing a lot more films headlined by women, it still is “a difficult call for any production anywhere in the world.”

The most distinctive part of actor Gul Panag’s 18-year-long career in showbiz is her choice of roles. From Dhoop (2003), Dor (2006), Manorama Six Feet Under (2007), Ab Tak Chhappan (2015), and most recently web series The Family Man, Panag has managed to pick projects that have a strong female characters. However, the actor confesses that getting such roles has not been easy.

“Typically, female characters are written in unidimensional way. A man can have multiple shades but a female can just have limited dimensions… she is mother or something else and that’s about it,” rues Panag.

The 42-year-old points out that even though now we are seeing a lot more films headlined by women, it still is “a difficult call for any production anywhere in the world.”

She elaborates “The percentage of films headlined by women, anywhere in the world, is far fewer than films headlined by men. It has been a very deeply patriarchal society and all stories are told from the perspective of men. And it is natural that if the story is told from the perspective of men in a male dominated society then you are only going to see men in stories about men. Women can’t headline stories about men.”

Talking about how things have changed from the time when she started out in 2003 to now, the former Miss India says there has been a gradual change and it is a positive sign.

“Today, the conversation about gender has gained more amplification than ever before. The conversation around how women need to be equal stakeholders is gaining momentum with each passing year. Therefore we see so many films headlined by women like Kahaani (2012), NH10 (2015), Pari (2018) and so on,” concludes Panag.