Filmmaker Kiran Rao has noticed how some films with highly ‘regressive’ messaging have been minting money at the box office. She confessed that this trend hurts her. In an interview with Film Companion, Kiran opened up about the responsibility of a filmmaker to ‘push the needle’.
Kiran Rao did not name any film or filmmaker in particular when she said, “I suppose all filmmakers set out to make good films, the intention is often great. But so much has changed in terms of the market. The audience now has so many more options and you are reaching for all kinds of attention when you’re making a film. So I suppose, when it is a really regressive sort of messaging, and it makes hundreds of crores, it hurts. Because you had the opportunity and you could have pushed the needle in some direction and you didn’t. So those are the things that sometimes bother me
She added, “Having said that, every filmmaker has their goals and they are going to do what they do. But it would be really nice if the big films, the kind that audiences love and earn lots at the box office, were also doing some of that important work for us. Building our society in a more positive way, not stereotyping people, in fact, breaking some of those regressive ideas down, or in some way opening up those conversations. I am not saying that all big films are not good but it would be great if we had more success with films that have better messaging. Having said that films are not necessarily for social change
