EXCLUSIVE! Fatima Sana Shaikh on 'Metro... In Dino' & gender pay gap in Bollywood: ‘Deepika Padukone is paving the path for us, so that tomorrow we won’t…’

In an EXCLUSIVE interview with Firstpost, when Fatima Sana Shaikh too spoke on gender pay gap and for things to change, audiences need to accept women led films. She said, “Finally, there are women who are asking for what they deserve, and that is commendable because to voice it and to even receive that was like a dream. And, you know, these are the women like Deepika Padukone who are paving paths for us so that tomorrow when we are in that position, we won’t obviously think twice to get our due.”

Edited excerpts from the interview:

 Can you enlighten us about your role a little bit in _Metro... In Dino_ ? 

I don’t know how much I can share, but you have seen the intensity in the trailer. I can’t really share the dynamic of the relationship, but it’s just an intense love story, which resonates. There is a lot of pull and push and, you know, they are going through a major crisis in their relationship. And how they overcome and tackle it.

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How much do you relate to your role in Metro… In Dino?

I don’t relate a lot to it, actually. I’m not in that position in my life. I’m not there yet. I am a completely different person and just not like her. When you play the character, you’re just playing it with full honesty. And with director Anurag Basu (Dada), you also learn about the character as you go. So, I just did the role with full honesty, but it’s not somebody that I think I can relate to.

And what was the preparation like? 

With Anurag (dada) there is nothing actually that we do beforehand. There is absolutely no preparation. You come to the site, you enjoy, you have fun, and then you go home. There is no scope of stressing over it.

What I understand from the trailer is that it was set in Kolkata. So, was the shooting done in Calcutta entirely?

We shot everything in Bombay. That’s the beauty of Anurag’s (dada) work. Whatever he does, he does his magic. But that’s how he does it. We do cheat locations.

And getting into the mood of the movie, how difficult or easy was it?

I didn’t get to interact with other characters a lot. I largely interacted with Sara Khan and Ali Fazal that you’ve seen in the trailer also. So, I didn’t unfortunately get to share the screen with all of these other actors that I’m a huge fan of.

The best thing about Anurag (dada) is that you are not bound by the script and you know what you’re getting into. So, you learn a lot when you go to the set. Even if there is a climax scene, even if there is a hectic scene, you come to know about it in the morning. And you just go with the flow. Whatever comes on your way, you just figure it out. You try to be as honest as possible. And that’s what we all did, and there is, you know, significant fun in that too.

But the director has to be really skilled and trusted. The only way this can work is if the director is very good. If the director also doesn’t know what he’s doing, then it won’t work. Here, everybody trusted Anurag (dada)’s vision, and everybody knew that he is brilliant at work.

He knows what he’s doing with his direction. He knows what he’s doing with his dialogue. There is not even one ounce of doubt in what he wants to do, and therefore, it’s very easy for us to surrender to them. And I don’t think there is anybody else like him. He’s the last of his kind. His filmography is so varied. He’s made such different films and all of them. In every film, the characters are so unique and different.

Would you like to talk about the gender pay gap?

You know, I’ve spoken about it recently. Finally, there are women who are asking for what they deserve, and that is commendable because to voice it and to even receive that was like a dream. And, you know, these are the women like Deepika Padukone who are paving paths for us so that tomorrow when we are in that position, we won’t obviously think twice to get our due.

But, you know, box office is a clear correlation to how much money you’re making. So, if there is no box office return, then producers are not going to give that money to you.

And, unfortunately, all of this depends upon the audience. If the audience is going to take in and appreciate and accept the film led by women and, you know, make it work and make it successful. Only then will there be a change.

But, I’ll go too far. So, when the audience accepts them, they go and watch their films. For example, if there is a new actor and if there is a Kareena Kapoor, she will get paid more than her newcomer hero. It’s not only in the film industry. It happens even in the sports world. They will always see the reproductive age of the woman. It’s time for women to decide even if she’s willing to work during that time or not that choice is entirely hers.