 thought if you had a fashion show and show stoppers coming in you would have clapped louder so that is for Indian women rising to women from Delhi and what a coincidence we need because you know people sitting here they've all watched your films but rarely do we speak about a person's journey so these are two women both from Delhi and coincidentally in a hotel which is near the King Khan's palace he's also from Delhi and Guneet has an interesting story so he was this young girl from Delhi with a dream of making it big in the film world and very different from others because she didn't want to be an actress not a show stopper definitely right and she didn't want to direct she didn't want to write but she just wanted to tell stories she wanted to ensure that all of us get to see the most beautiful stories from different parts of the country and that's a rare wish to have when she stood outside Manath making a man that's you may have to know from you about your journey and how as a woman you made it as the most successful female producer representing Indian cinema globally thank you Zara thank you e4m for having me here and I'm so happy to be here and speaking to everybody you know of course we all come to the city with dreams and of course the land of stories so I came here 2006 and of course stood in front of Manath and I was like one day you know the city will also know my name so yeah so just just grateful that my work has tracked people have had people have seen the films and have been have given great feedback globally so it's been a journey of ups and downs it's been a journey of constant hustle like anything to put you in a box you are so like you know you're so I'm a producer so you're you're somebody who talks about money I was like it's you know at least movie making is combination of art and commercials right so but I would I but early on you take all of this guilt and you internalize it how to say the right thing in a room or read a room and over a period of time you just realize that you're fine you know and I think the journey that you do from your 20s to 30s so here I am I came to the city 2006 and yes made a bunch of movies that did well and I'm happy here to address it in the reason of making I think Indian women rising was to you know I feel like somebody paved some way for me and as I go along I need to put two blocks behind for another woman to come step on to them and to be able to tell their story you know because there are so many opportunities out there and why not so yes so that's the reason Indian women rising got formed and we continue telling stories one one story at this narrative is opposite to what we see on TV and it's interesting that you a guitar Tahira and you know Ruchika have come together and and you're creating this beautiful platform because the saying is that a woman kabhi a woman and here we are we are actually celebrating women who have a dream to make it big in the content and entertainment industry and you are putting it together as opposed to what we see on TV and you know what I really want to say here that a short film of mine that I had that executive produced called a period end of sentence it won an Oscar in 2019 and it's a short doc on Netflix please watch it plug but you know the journey of that film really really really enforced that actually when one woman empowers another we actually open the door for 10 more and it's magical to run life like a relay and not one at a time you know because when we it's actually on us on how we talk about each other in rooms that we are not there you know and there's nothing more empowering than then then then you know then saying that there is there's abundant of work so you know shuru say because it's a bola jada that you know like women should not work there are all these for generations our mothers have fought that that you should not work you have to run the house because the man has to go in the bread so coming from there I think the narrative kind of set that there is only those many places there are only those many seats so we've always been told it's either you or her you know so then you get into you start with a sense of competition which is a big lie in its whole entirety it's a whole thing is a lie there's abundance it's not calm for everyone the jobs can be filled by the most competitive people out there and why not I think the minute we make that switch within us we start celebrating each other that's when the narrative hold changes that she's amazing and what does it take for us to say that about each other you know and to actually call out patriarchy that we have been subject to you know we don't even realize but it's conditioning it's generation of patriarchy that we have internalized and we are only ourselves key roadblocks so period end of sentence was a bunch of school girls in LA who decided to do yoga thorns and bake sales and raise some money empower young girls in half or near Delhi and I was just orchestrating and being a producer to make sure we shoot and the content happens but I literally saw what happens when a woman empowers another it's beautiful we went on to win an Oscar so there's enough and more for us congratulations and I can only say more power to you and more stories should be told because we got to celebrate positive stories I think everyone sitting out here the women sitting out here gorgeous ones the ones who are so talented that they've made it so far and you're representing your company content the brands that you stand for I think we all deserve to tell positive stories I feel that diversity inclusivity should not be the HR jargon that is in fashion these days and we all love flaunting it when we speak about our companies it should actually translate into communication into content into stories and more than that into your own thoughts and actions which is exactly what you're doing all four of you coming together why don't you tell us about the opportunities that you want to create through the platform and I'd rather be more inclusive I should say we are creating because as group we fully support IWR and the initiative and as a part of the initiative under positive impact or diversity inclusivity in fact the kind of stories that we want to tell because we interact with so many brands and I've always felt that yes you know a thriller on OTT is very exciting yes you want to see that big hero coming and kicking hundred villains and the item number song and you want to dance and listen to that but the world still deserves positive and inspiring stories so that your journey like anyone else's could be celebrated no absolutely I think we're just getting started you know so Indian women rising was we only came together last year there is you know I've we've always felt that there is a need to just share our knowledge firstly the decades the decade and a half that I have spent in the industry and the wisdom that I have gained the self-doubt that I have come across and come over I just think I need to talk about it freely to do the younger lot coming into this industry because when I came out of Delhi, my family told me that the girl will come out of my hand you know so the girl will come out of my hand but no, now all of them are standing together and taking pictures you know my niece my nephew distant uncle auntie is also like the girl in Mumbai so now the girl who came out of my hand is a sense of pride so narrative has changed you know so we need to do that for everybody else because actually this industry is beautiful there's extremely well-read amazing people ready to tell stories empower each other and we even understand who are articulating what our conditioning is and how we are breaking those norms so Indian women rising came together is just you know it was a conversation between Taherami, Ekta and Ruchika and it was like we need to do something to just make sure it's easier you know we've all had that huge I mean I suffered with a massive imposter syndrome post lunchbox post-producing gangs of us for lunchbox I was like it's a fluke and then coming out from there and saying of course I know what to do and I and I am producing it and I can continue to do more I set up my company and of course been producing and traveling around the world but coming back to Indian women rising and the support of WPB we actually want to be able to celebrate stories that are made by women that are directed by women that are women in the center we want to double down and add our power our collective resources our media strength our social media handles our knowledge our contacts and open doors for those stories so that they can have the right platform and can be celebrated and for them it is not like dosa lagga to reach the right person you know so we've spent that years so we want to be that bridge that can just be like okay you're amazing let's do this you know across our companies across the opportunities that ekta Balaji or me at Sikhya or Tahira has there's enough bandwidth and knowledge to make that bridge so that's where Indian women rising started it also it's also it the reason for us to also come together was basic stats you know there are less than 5% women who are directors so the minute that stacks it really hits you you're like less than 5% we can do a little better now I'm at the least in position of producing in position of being marketeers in position of financing we can definitely internalize this basic stats and try and do our bit because why not you know what is it what does it take to see a check first-time director if it's a man you can be like a chalice bed as carol a guy but if it's a woman you you know so what is so it's point to check within us you know it's not to put it on somebody else it's like what is it that we don't have that confidence you know and why can't they not do it so the stacks are really poor and where do we even start bridging that gap so it's not like tomorrow I understand the business and I'm not here saying okay let's just write checks to women and they should know why I just think building an ecosystem is very important so that they can be a step-by-step growth right so we actually want to start a mentorship and an internship platform and open our good offices and all the offices we have access to to be able to have more and more safe spaces for women media students so that is where we are beginning and we are picking up movies that we can release we can we can push we did do the Oscar campaign for a short last year called bit 2 and we put in a lot of power to help you know a student get through the campaign because everybody here understands how crazy it is and how much years of knowledge everybody has to put through to run one campaign so that comes handy with us so yeah so we're beginning we're a little startup and all we have is our knowledge and our contacts and our resources our phone books and we are ready to open it for just amazing women talent to walk through and that is where we are beginning from we're very excited for our conversations with WPB and with Group M and it's going to be amazing in the coming months as we talk more about what we are up to absolutely and I think the fact that it's not about just giving it to women just like that just because they're women the fact is that the platform promises that they will empower enable them and facilitate the whole learning curve so that they become more deserving and can actually go create magic on screen which is the beauty that we want to celebrate and create together and I hope that the entire universe of platforms co-creators partners and brands also partner with us eventually in this journey because it deserves everyone to tell the story I don't think you know initiatives like these can be the brainchild children of three or four people that you know here are four or five people producing this together it needs to be a larger conversation and happy that we are having it on this platform I always tell good needs that you know she's got this amazing imaginative mind too and the power to create magic so Ellen Musk was launching satellites and she was sitting and launching Indian women rising and we were facilitating that how beautiful can that be it's very exciting it's actually very empowering because it's an idea that stemmed and now we have a team we have an office and we have plans that are that are taking shape it is it's actually amazing to be able to see you know we I know the hustle what it takes to make a movie to make a piece of content but this is far larger you know this is hoping that many more content and many more units come out of it that we are all proud of it and all of you in this room have a role to play in that because it's not something that we are producing we're just enabling so that's where we are I wish Pushpa was created with another Pushpa and that was popular that is the ambition that we have I have an ambition that you know we create bigger RRRs where there are Rajah Mollies the female Rajah Mollies and likes who can actually come and create national blockbusters and all of you can partner and promote that and we can all sing and dance to it so to the women in the room to the men who will definitely stand by the women and support them and to you and everyone at IWR thank you so much and more power and blessings from everyone thank you I do want to say that this is not about alienating a gender it's about working together it's about putting the stats out there and asking each other what we can all do it is about coexisting it's about safe spaces and thank you for everybody who understands the need of changing the stats it really means a lot so to all the women and to all the men backing and supporting us because let's do it it's our time and why can't we of course go make the biggest thrillers and creature features and Marvel movies and yeah I mean car commercials because this whole thing of women can't do it so let's change the number but thank you thank you everybody for listening to us and supporting us thank you