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Kathha Pictures, in partnership with Women in Film (WIF) India, brought together some of Indian cinema's sharpest female voices this week for a panel titled 'Women Building Cinema Together,' spotlighting the collaborations reshaping who gets to tell stories — and who gets to lead them.
The headline conversation featured actor Taapsee Pannu, writer-producer Kanika Dhillon, and Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor, who dug into shifting ideas of female leadership, the rise of women-led production houses and what it takes to build creative ecosystems that actually sustain women in the industry, rather than spotlighting them occasionally.
Dhillon was candid about where her characters come from. "When people ask me where this complicated, strong, and rare woman comes from, I tell them they are all around me," she said, pushing back on the idea of women as ones in need of rescue.
The acclaimed writer-producer also noted how success is a collective currency. "When Guneet wins, it opens the doors for many of us... we are climbing on each other's shoulders," she said.
The panel also touched on the pressures of typecasting — with Pannu's own trajectory, from Mission Mangal to the Haseen Dillruba franchise, cited as an example of an actor being boxed into "strong woman" roles, and the appetite among women in the industry to expand beyond that mould rather than be defined by it.
"I don’t know what I have done that I have been getting only thriller, mystery films, I also wish to do romantic films," Pannu quipped and mentioned her character in Haseen Dillruba. "I have worn sarees and carried roses, how much more romantic can I get?"
Dhillon's filmography, including Manmarziyaan, Kedarnath, Haseen Dillruba, Rashmi Rocket, Raksha Bandhan, Dunki, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba (her production debut), and Do Patti has long prioritised nuanced female arcs over conventional hero tropes.
The evening's centerpiece was a preview of Gandhari, the duo's next collaboration under Kathha Pictures, starring Pannu and penned and produced by Dhillon. Directed by Devashish Makhija and co-starring Ishwak Singh, the action-thriller follows a mother's fight to protect her child, and premieres globally on Netflix on September 3.
The event drew a strong industry turnout, including Sanjana Sanghi, Pragya Jaiswal, Harleen Sethi, directors Ashima and Priyanka Ghose, and capped off with a networking session.
