Ekta Kapoor, Guneet Monga, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana launch cinema collective for women creators

Producers Ekta Kapoor and Guneet Monga along with author Tahira Kashyap Khurrana have come together to provide a platform to women filmmakers. The three women in the entertainment business have launched a cinema collective called Indian Women Rising (IWR) in order to nurture talented women in cinema and bring forward the stories of women.

While Ekta is an established producer in the TV and film entertainment industry and the joint managing director of Balaji Telefilms, Guneet is the founder of Sikhya Entertainment and an Academy Award winner. Tahira is a writer and educator. Her recent book is The 12 Commandments Of Being A Woman.

The mission of the cinema collective is to ‘empower and amplify groundbreaking narratives that disrupt the status quo,’ according to their website.

The announcement was shared by the three achievers on their individual social media handles.

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The creators in Malayalam cinema launched Women in Cinema Collective in February 2017 and was formally announced in May 2017.

As reported by Filmibeat Guneet Monga said that currently in India, less than five percent of the directors in the entertainment industry are women. She said that they intend to amplify the work of independent women creators using the resources of the Indian Women Rising.

Speaking about IWR, Ekta said that when Gunnet and Tahira shared this concept with her then she instantly agreed to it. She hopes that more women directors will be encouraged to come forward because of the collective.

Sharing her thoughts, Tahira said that it has been easy to stereotype women since there is limited material when it comes to the representation of women. She says that this is the reason why women are either revolutionaries or tragedy stricken damsels in the films. “This collective intends to disrupt the boxed notions about women,” Tahira added while speaking to Filmibeat.