Chhorii, Queen producer Vikram Malhotra finds the term 'women-oriented films' discriminatory: 'It is self-defeating'

Vikram Malhotra of Abundantia Entertainment talks about why calling female-led titles ‘women-oriented films’ does cinema harm.

In a career that has spanned over two decades, filmmaker Vikram Malhotra has produced several films led by women, ranging from Kahaani and Queen to Shakuntala Devi and Chhorii. Yet, he vehemently disagrees with what the industry has termed such films - women-oriented films. In a chat with HT ahead of the release of his new film, Chhorii 2, the producer talks about the terminology and why it needs to go. (

Vikram Malhotra has produced films like Kahaani, Queen, Sherni, and Chhorii.

What does the term women-oriented films even mean?

Vikram Malhotra is producing Chhorii 2 under his banner Abundantia Entertainment, which has earlier produced films such as Sherni, Jalsa, Shakutala Devi, and more. Incidentally, all these films land in the category that Bollywood trade - without much thought - likes to label women-oriented movies. Ask him about his disdain for the terminology and Vikram shares, "I have heard so many times that the distinction needs to be made because people need to realise that here is a show or film that is done differently. Women-centric, women-oriented, what does it even mean? We don't greenlight films like that. Writers and directors don't write stories that way."

Labelling does more harm than good

The filmmaker says that the need to distinguish films in this way harms the films. "It is self-defeating to label anything in this manner. It happened when we did Kahaani, and this entire labelling started there. I absolutely dislike this labelling. It needs to end. It is discriminatory, and the ones who are actually making films, we don't think that way."

Vishal Furia, the director of Chhorii 2, echoes his producer's sentiment and adds, "This labelling is doing more harm than good because it alienates the male audience. Then, who are you making the films for?"

Chhorii 2, a sequel to the 2021 critically acclaimed release Chhorii, is directed by Vishal Furia. It brings back Nushrratt Bharuccha and introduces Soha Ali Khan as the antagonist. The film releases on Amazon Prime Video on April 11.