‘To survive, you need to have filmmaker friends’

Director-writer Alankrita Shrivastava, who had to fight a huge battle to get her film Lipstick Under My Burkha a release in India, says it is very important to have filmmaker friends.

“I am constantly anxious, not when I am writing, but when I finish shooting; when I have to deal with my own material, I am hit with anxiety. For me, it is not so much about the release, it’s about me dealing with myself,” says Alankrita who often reaches out to her filmmaker friends for their opinions.

“I have a lot of friends who are filmmakers. A friend who is not a filmmaker wouldn’t know your deepest anxiety but filmmaker friends understand it so well. You need to have friends who are writer-director or else, I don’t know how to survive,” she adds.

Recently, Alankrita directed a few episodes for Amazon’s web-series Made In Heaven. She is also working on her upcoming film Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, which features Konkona Sen Sharma and Bhumi Pednekar in lead roles.

While the pay parity debate still needs to find a concrete solution, Alankrita feels that things can be changed only by the audience.

“It has got so much to do with the audience, only they can change things. Once they start watching more movies centred around women, it will get easier to make more such films. With series and platforms, I believe an actress is making more money. At least I feel, it’s more equal,” she further adds.