Underlining women through films is not my forte: Avinash Das

New Delhi July 20 (IANS) Director Avinash Das who received critical acclaim for his film "Anaarkali of Aarah" earlier this year said on Thursday he doesn t like how women-oriented films underline the gender as it s not something that he does in his movies.

"When I was making Anaarkali of Aarah I didn t think that I want to tell a women-oriented film. It was a simple story. Underlining women through films is not my forte " Das said here on Thursday at non-profit organisation Oxfam India s panel discussion titled "Influence of Films on Gender Norms".

"It s not good to target a gender and create issues with them. Women are used to live in such type of an environment. When I thought about the story of Anaarkali of Aarah I thought like telling my own story and not just a female " he added.

Das was joined by director Alankrita Shrivastava Jolie Carey Programme Development Officer with USAID/India and Nisha Agrawal CEO Oxfam India.

The panel discussion was followed by a special screening of Shrivastava s new film "Lipstick Under My Burkha".

Citing the example of writer Apurva Asrani who earlier this year expressed disappointment over social media for giving co-writer credit to actress Kangana Ranaut for "Simran" Das said: "Being a director you might feel bad when an actress tries to add her personal ideas to the story but from women s perspective it s creating an influence on the industry.

"What women is thinking -- that somehow will come in your story. Personally I love women so I cannot tell my story without their help. When I see men I don t see any interesting fact in their lives " he added.

--IANS
sas/ahm/bg