Saiyami Kher: A lot of times, female characters still feel like an afterthought
Saiyami Kher talks about taking Ghoomer to Uzbekistan, condition of women representation in Bollywood and women-led films still being considered a ‘risk’
The Embassy of India in Tashkent, Uzbekistan hosted a Film Festival recently, in honor of the month of celebrating International Women’s Day, by showcasing acclaimed women-centric films. Amongst them was Saiyami Kher’s 2023 release Ghoomer, for which the actor even went to Uzbekistan.
Talking about the achievement, Saiyami Kher says, “It’s overwhelming to see the film continue to get recognition even after so much time. As an actor, you make choices based on instinct, passion, and belief in a story, but you never know how it will be received. So, when your film keeps resonating with audiences, it reinforces my belief that the kind of cinema I want to be part of has value. For me, that’s the biggest validation,” adding, “The love the people of Uzbekistan showered on us was very special.”
With the festival promoting women empowerment, Saiyami talks about the role of cinema in doing that, saying, “Cinema is a reflection of society, but it also has the power to influence it. We are moving beyond just ‘strong female characters’ to real, flawed, layered women who don’t always have to be perfect. That’s how cinema truly promotes empowerment—by showing women in all their depth and complexity.”
But is Hindi cinema doing a good job in female representation? “We’ve made progress, but there are still gaps. One of the biggest issues is writing. A lot of times, female characters still feel like an afterthought—they exist to support the male lead’s journey rather than having their own arcs. Even when a film is centred on a woman, there’s often a tendency to make her either too strong or too victimized, instead of just letting her be a real person with flaws, contradictions, and depth,” the 32-year-old responds, adding, “We also need to break away from the mindset that a female-led film has to be about social issues or empowerment. Women don’t have to be just one thing on screen. We also need more representation behind the camera, because they will naturally bring more authenticity to women’s stories.”
Saiyami believes that to truly empower women through cinema, what’s needed the most is “normalization”. “We need to stop treating female-led films as different or special. We should have strong, well-written female characters in all kinds of genres, not just in social dramas. And we need to break the perception that a film with a female lead is a risk, and the audience plays a huge role in this change,” she says.
However, while it is needed, the actor admits that unfortunately, the challenge to get someone to back a female-led film still exists. “There’s still hesitation from many producers and studios when it comes to investing in stories with women at the center. The perception is that such films don’t make as much money as male-led films. And that’s where the audience also plays a role because box office numbers matter in the industry. When a big-ticket male-led film releases, people rush to watch it. But when a female-led film comes out, there’s often a hesitation. That mindset has to change. The more commercially successful female-led films become, the easier it will be to get them made without questioning their viability,” she ends.
