"Female-Led Films Need to be Perfect; Men-Led Average Films Become Hits": Taapsee Pannu | The Quint

In this interview, Anubhav Sinha, #taapseepannu and Kani Kusruti discuss the importance of films like #Assi, society's failure to prevent assault, hyper-masculinity in the industry, resistance to mounting female-led stories, the challenges directors now face while making films, and more. Quick guide: 00:00: Introduction 01:01: Anubhav Sinha on the difficulties of mounting films like ‘Assi’ 02:05: On executives having creative control in the industry 04:19: Taapsee Pannu: “I still have to prove myself” 05:29: On the challenges of making female-led cinema in a hypermasculine industry 06:56: “Films like ‘Assi’ are the next mainstream cinema” 07:33: Kani Kusruti: “Women don’t have the luxury to fail in this industry” 09:03: On the double-standards of the industry for male vs female filmmakers 10:16: Anubhav on why he chose to make a film like ‘Assi’ 11:34: On what shocked them during the filmmaking process 14:04: On the message of ‘Assi’ 15:20: On ‘Assi’ starting an uncomfortable yet important conversation 17:36: “The responsibility of righteousness always falls on the woman” 19:26” On systemic failures that enable men’s wrongdoings 20:59: On Taapsee’s one-take courtroom monologue 24:37: “In my heart, I made this film for children” 25:54: On choosing to make ‘Assi’ a courtroom drama 27:49: On addressing vigilantism in the film 28:54: On the impact they hope ‘Assi’ will have From exposing misinformation to delivering impactful human rights reporting, our newsroom has relentlessly pursued stories that drive change. We remain committed to asking the tough questions — and we'd love for you to be a part of our journey. Become The Quint’s member and make your support count: https://bit.ly/4j8x6uy For more videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/4gIyCln --------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website for more stories: https://www.thequint.com Check out our Special Projects: https://www.thequint.com/special-projects Subscribe to The Quint’s exclusive newsletters: https://thequint.substack.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------- Follow elsewhere: » Join us on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va5ysvjAe5VqBKRhgv2G » Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thequint/ » LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/company/thequint » Twitter: https://x.com/TheQuint » Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/ --------------------------------------------------------------- Video: The Quint