Alia Bhatt questions Bollywood's male-centric approach: 'What happens to women?'
What's the story
Alia Bhatt, who is currently attending the 79th Cannes Film Festival, has questioned the film industry's continued focus on male audiences. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, she said that storytelling should be the priority over gender-specific content. "I wonder if we are catering just to the men, then what happens to the women? I am not saying we alienate the men, but why do we have to alienate anybody? Why do we have to cater to one gender?"
Box office trends
Global success of female-led films
Bhatt highlighted the global box office success of Hollywood films like Barbie, Wuthering Heights, and The Devil Wears Prada 2, which were primarily driven by female audiences. She added, "If you take a look at the box office, you'll see the films that have done phenomenally well: Barbie, Wuthering Heights, and The Devil Wears Prada 2." "These are a few; I am sure there are way more and their main audience perhaps was women."
Bhatt's perspective
'But in India, when we talk about box office...'
"Women were showing up, watching these films, which have now become massive hits," Bhatt said. "But in India, when we talk about box office and numbers...there is a conversation that comes up pretty often, which is 75% of the movie-going audience is male." "So we need to cater to the masses. This conversation comes up quite a bit." "I wonder if we are catering just to the men then what happens to the women?"
Industry change
Gender-agnostic films should be the focus, says Bhatt
Bhatt, who is also a producer, said she hopes to see more gender-agnostic films in the future. "Why can't we make movies that are gender-agnostic where the storytelling takes center stage?" "So whether it stars a man or a woman that should not matter. It is the storytelling that should matter."
Career highlights
Meanwhile, know more about her upcoming projects
On the work front, Bhatt will be seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love & War, co-starring Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal. The film will hit theaters on January 21, 2027. She also has the spy thriller Alpha in the pipeline. At Cannes, she made her red carpet debut last year and returned this year as L'Oreal Paris's global ambassador. She walked the carpet for the Opening Ceremony and premiere of Pierre Salvadori's The Electric Kiss.