Kanika Dhillon on living life on her own terms and womanhood
On International Women's Day, writer-producer Kanika Dhillon talks about representation of women in cinema and what changed after becoming a mother
Writer-producer Kanika Dhillon has been the name behind films like Manmarziyaan (2018), Haseen Dillruba (2021) and Dunki (2023). Yet, it has been a difficult career journey for her. “I refuse to live someone else’s idea of what an ideal successful woman is and that has been my biggest challenge as well as my biggest victory,” says Dhillon.
On International Women’s Day today, talking about representation of women in cinema, the 39-year-old states, “In popular culture, the ideal woman image has dominated, and we’ve had a narrow definition of being a woman.” She adds that while things are changing for the better, there is still a long way to go. However, Dhillon also points out how women themselves pose danger for their own gender. She says, “We have a patriarchal narrative with men, but the women who are pandering to it and are hypocritical about it, are the bigger problems today. As women, when we pull other women down, we are doing a bigger disservice. This hypocrisy by women is more dangerous than men.”
Dhillon and husband-writer Himanshu Sharma welcomed their baby boy Veer in 2021, and while she loves being a mother, she points out the bias against working moms. Revealing a shocking incident, she shares, “I was in a meeting with a man who wanted to renegotiate my contract’s commercial terms because I was pregnant, and he thought I won’t be able to fulfil my responsibilities.”
Yet, Dhillon calls becoming a mother “the best thing that has happened to me.” “Opposite to what is said, my ambitions have gotten bigger after I became a mother,” she concludes.