Not only impressing us all with her talented screenwriting, but Kanika Dhillon is also a pro at shutting people who disregard her work and look over it just because she is a 'woman' working in a male-dominated industry. The writer, who was recently given top billing in the trailer of Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey and Harshvardhan Rane's Haseen Dillruba, opened up about being targetted for the same by Jai Mummy Di writer Navjot Gulati. "If you want top billing as a Screenwriter in a trailer(something that should be the norm)You need to marry into the production house. Once the Writer becomes a family member, is treated like an Actor-Star," Navjot had tweeted.
Opening up about the same in PeepingMoon's Let's Talk finale episode, Kanika said, "I am acknowledging the fact that I have it easier than the rest but double standards have been there. Be it at the time of the release of my film, be it even lately me been given top billing by Netflix. The fact that I have done a body of work in a span of time has been completely disregarded. If a male writer had written Haseen Dillruba and Netflix had given top billing to a male writer, please tell me would anyone get up and say, 'hey wait let me see who this male writer is married to'. Would you ever do that?"
She added, "Firstly, you did not even bother to see that I am also the co-producer of that film. Your lengths of patriarchy and your double standards are so deep that you have chosen to ignore that I am the co-producer of the film. If you wanted to taunt only then you would have taunted on this that Netflix gave her the top billing because she is the co-producer of the film. I would have loved to answer that. But strangely you went like Netflix gave top billing because you are married to somebody. What are you trying to say? You are trying to say to all the girls of the industry, that look when you come here, start looking for a boyfriend or husband who can get you somewhere. That's preposterous. I was fuming."
Kanika, who started her journey as an AD on Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone’s Om Shanti Om, soon paved her way to the top as a screenwriter. With films like Ra.One, Manmarziyaan, Guilty, Haseen Dillruba & Rashmi Rocket in her kitty, the 39-year-old defined success & how.
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