Woman in a man’s world

Women are making their presence felt in male-dominated spheres in Molly­wood.

Update: 2013-12-24 16:16 GMT
Deepthi Sylaja (L) and Siju Rose (R) are some of the women making a mark in the male-dominated Mollywood.

There was a time when one walked on to a film set teeming with men and the only women seen would be hairdressers and costume designers apart from the heroines.

But times have changed. Mollywood is seeing the rise of women technicians in various departments like direction, script and lyric writing, cinematography and even production, with high work ethics delivering quality work on par with the men. Though in terms of numbers, the percentage of  women in the industry is still minuscule, their very presence in a male-dominated industry like Mollywood is an encouraging sign.

Actor Siju Rose has made a transition  from the front of the camera to behind it by becoming an assistant director for the Hindi remake of 'Traffic' directed by Rajesh Pillai. Talking about this change of track, she says, “I consider it as a learning process. I always wanted to get into direction and personally I believe that every actor should work behind the camera, which will help them understand camera angles, frames, etc. Being an assistant director is no cake walk and is a tough job compared to acting!”

Siju says that being a woman among hundreds of men is a tough act too. Though Rajesh did teach her, most of her work invol­ved picking up thin­gs first hand. “I had to co-ordinate with the artistes and since I have been living in Mumbai, language was never a problem. The people here are very professional including the actors.” Siju quips that she will be totally involved until the wrap-up party of  'Traffic', as the new role she has taken up means a lot to her.

The long working hours and the unpredictable timings do not bother these women who are very passionate about their work; it is chasing their passion that matters.

Scriptwriting has largely been male dominated, with veterans still ruling the roost. Winds of change have begun to blow here too with women stepping in. Deepthi Sylaja has written the script  for the upcoming film 'Second Inni­ngs', a film based on a cricketer.

Deepthi has been an anchor, scripted a documentary, telefilm and done a storyboard for an ad too. She says, “I scripted, narrated and directed my first documentary when I was 25, with no experience whatsoever. I found it very challenging but the response I received was encouraging.”
 
Deepthi always wanted to write a script for a feature film but did not have the technical knowhow. She spoke to Sathyan Anthikad, who assured her that there were no rules in Tinsel town. Talking about her acceptance by  Mollywood, Deepthi candidly opines, “Everyone is not accepted instantly in Mollywood. Your work has to speak for you! I also enjoy a certain amount of respect as a scriptwriter and that is what I always wanted —  my name in the credit list of a film!”
 
Anu Elizabeth Jose is the rising star among lyricists after her successful turn in 'Thattathin Marayathu' and she says that breaking into Mollywood was very easy for her.
 
She explains, “Vineeth Sree­nivasan wanted a female lyric writer and one of my friends, an  assistant director, suggested my name. I had only one album with a song to my credit but came away with three songs in 'Thattathin Marayathu'. I had no one to discuss lyric writing with, so my father and Vineeth became my sounding boards. With technology, one doesn’t have to be on location or on the sets. I just needed to know the situation and I could  write the lyrics in my time and space.”
 
 

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