mid-day 43rd anniversary special: Saw actresses being given small vanities, says Taapsee Pannu

Taapsee Pannu

When Taapsee Pannu turned producer last year with Outsiders Films, one knew that she would take brave stories to the audience. But her desire to effect change wasn't restricted to the screen. As an actor who had seen the on-ground reality and called out many gender-biased norms of the industry - from the vast pay gap, to leading ladies being dropped from films at the nth hour - Pannu understood that she was now in a position to lead change. She started it with a small but significant step on the sets of her productions Blurr, starring Gulshan Devaiah and her, and Dhak Dhak, which stars Ratna Pathak Shah, Dia Mirza, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanjana Sanghi.

The new producer insisted on uniform-sized vanity vans for all actors, regardless of their gender, experience or screen time, thus subverting the age-old idea of the leading man being given the biggest vanity van on the set. She begins, "During my initial years in the industry, I saw actresses being given small vanity vans. The big double-door vanity was reserved for [male] actors or supporting actors. This, when the number of things a hair and make-up person has to carry for a female actor is relatively more than that for a male actor. It would get claustrophobic, hardly looking like a place where an artiste could relax. This inequality bothered me a lot. I was too new back then to raise an issue."

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The size of a vanity van and the paraphernalia it comes with has long been viewed as an indicator of one's stardom. But scratch that glossy surface, and it's telling of the power hierarchy steeped in the industry. "It took me a while to [realise] that no one is too small to ask for basic space. It should be equal. I wanted to correct it, and when I found the power to make the change, I did it," asserts Pannu.

While her acting commitments may keep her away from the daily grind of production, business partner Pranjal Khandhdiya is the hands-on producer. Together, they aim to make necessary changes to further a single objective - "to make actors feel respected and loved." She adds, "There are enough breaks between schedules. We take weekly offs seriously. There are strict work hours, and we don't believe in slogging beyond that. Our next step is to better the quality of food. I also try to give sanitary hygiene products to female crew members. Bettering things is a learning curve, and we are learning, step by step."

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