On Tuesday, 18th of December, PM Modi had an interaction with a delegation from the film and entertainment industry to get inputs regarding the growth potential of the said industry in India. He tweeted,
PM Modi held a Bollywood meeting comprising of some big names of the industry including Akshay Kumar, Bhushan Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar and many more. But guess what? The attendance of women in the pictures of the meeting was zero.
“Had an extensive and fruitful interaction with a delegation from the film and entertainment industry. The delegation spoke about the strides being made by the film and entertainment industry, and gave valuable inputs relating to GST for their sector.”
Had an extensive and fruitful interaction with a delegation from the film and entertainment industry. The delegation spoke about the strides being made by the film and entertainment industry, and gave valuable inputs relating to GST for their sector. https://t.co/ulQMtxTJQj pic.twitter.com/n4Dn38EJLr
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 18, 2018
Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar also tweeted the pictures post their meeting.
It was enlightening to hear the honourable Prime Minsiter @narendramodi share his views on our Industry’s soft power status and the strength of our cinema…he gave our media and entertainment representatives a patient and solid hearing….thank you Sir!! pic.twitter.com/BIl8ubQwYa
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) December 18, 2018
They thanked PM Modi to listen to them at length about their opinions.
Heartfelt thank you to the honorable Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for taking out time to hear us at length, discuss issues pertaining to our industry and assuring positive consideration of suggestions. pic.twitter.com/ShGfr0Jlvu
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) December 18, 2018
But what about female filmmakers’ opinions? Netizens were quick to notice the exclusion of women from the meeting.
18 men. zero women. https://t.co/Bm0Jx7IaG0
— Neha Sharma (@mmiinniii) December 18, 2018
Remarkable that even in an industry which actually has enough women, no woman in this delegation. https://t.co/vOai0UQGhU
— Ruchi Gupta (@guptar) December 18, 2018
Even after #MeTooIndia, no one cared to include even one woman in the delegation. https://t.co/khSQ2g3Egh
— Surbhi Gupta (@bysurbhigupta) December 18, 2018
Looks like the womenfolk from the film and entertainment industry seem to have nothing worth sharing with the PM of the country. Maybe all the harassment, casting couch, pay gap, misrepresentation and sexism must have been addressed already? https://t.co/cea12BkMCN
— Calling Out Stalking (@CallOutStalking) December 18, 2018
More proof that reinforces we need affirmative action. Clearly women are not even on invite lists. Forget bottom of the lists. https://t.co/ZpvCSMbmjX
— Aparna Jain (@Aparna) December 18, 2018
Would be great to have female representation in these delegations. It is 2018. https://t.co/HoxGbptgwX
— Alankrita Shrivastava (@alankrita601) December 18, 2018
In October as well, 7 representatives from Bollywood met PM Modi to discuss issues regarding the industry. And you can guess already that there were no female representatives there too.
HMPH!
Are we entering 2019 or heading back to the regressive ages? Do we really have a dearth of female filmmakers? Or did they assume that GST was too complicated for a female mind to process?