Janhvi Kapoor: Films with female protagonists are treated as ‘anomaly’

Janhvi Kapoor finds it weird when people look at films with female protagonists as exceptions. The actor, who stars in the upcoming thriller ‘Mili,’ has just one question to ask: If the film was instead titled ‘Milan,’ would a male actor be made to feel the same?

In a recent interview with CNN-News18, Janhvi, who has headlined films like ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’ and ‘Good Luck Jerry,’ said, “I have done a couple of films where the protagonist of the film is a female character and I play that part. Every time I tell people about these films, they always address it like it is an anomaly.

“Like, ‘Oh you are doing a female-oriented film.’ If Mili was Milan, would you ask the actor you are doing a male-oriented film, how do you feel about it? That’s weird and sad,” she added.

Janhvi Kapoor says it is empowering to witness the audience embrace good storytelling even if there are people who will still ask her who the male star in the film is. “At the end of the day, we are just telling stories about characters, irrespective of the genre. I hope that attitude changes. So many times, when I am doing this film, I am asked, ‘Oh hero kaun hai?’ (who’s the hero?) and I answer Me.

“It is extremely empowering that so many people and the audience right now are gravitating towards just stories. You make a good film, and the film is the hero, not the man or the woman in it,” she added.

‘Mili’ is the Hindi remake of Malayalam film ‘Helen’. The Mathukutty Xavier directorial also stars Manoj Pahwa and Sunny Kaushal. It is scheduled to release in theatres on November 4.