It's Women's Day, and the latest episode of Tell Me All celebrates those women who are an essential part of the film industry. Stuntwoman Sanober Pardiwalla, cinematographer Pooja Gupte and gaffer Hetal Dedhia speak to The Quint about choosing their respective professions, the challenges they have to face, long working hours in the industry and more.
Speaking about why she chose cinematography as a profession Pooja said, "I always wanted to become a cinematographer. I used to assist people on sets, and professionally I took up this profession in 2009". Sanober recalled performing her first stunt for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan when she was just 13, while Hetal shared how she became the first woman gaffer in the Hindi film industry.
The trio also spoke about how women's skills are questioned when they are shooting for projects. Sanober said, "Without even looking at our work or resume we are asked, 'Will she be able to do it?' Once, I was called for a scooty advertisement. I just had to precision ride the scooty in a particular manner. I have done a number of bike stunts, so I gave this person a number of my bike-riding shots, including videos of stunts that I did for Dhoom 2, Bang Bang. After all this, the person comes and tells me, 'All this is perfect, but can you ride a scooty?' I was stunned".
During the conversation, Hetal expressed concern about long working hours in the industry and how that needs to be changed. "Post COVID, working hours have gone for a toss. Twelve hours have become a thing of the past, now we have to work for 20 long hours. More than pay disparity between men and women, these are things that need to be taken into consideration".
She added, "We work without breaks. I am very disturbed with these working hours. I feel unions have to come into place and put a stop to this. They say, 'Why don't you complain?', but don't they know what is going on? There were rules followed at one point of time, but not anymore".
Watch the video for more.
Video Editor: Arnab Chakravorty
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