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Veteran Actress Slams Bollywood's 'Fake Industry' Status
14 Aug
Summary
- Actress criticizes Bollywood as a cottage industry with vague rules.
- She highlights zero intellectual property and creative rights for actors.
- Older actresses are denied significant roles beyond generic stereotypes.
Kitu Gidwani, with over four decades in the Indian film and television industry, has openly criticized its operational standards. She describes Bollywood as a "cottage industry" that operates by "vague rules," contrasting it sharply with established global models.
Gidwani emphasized a significant issue concerning intellectual property and creative rights, stating they are "zero in India." She explained that actors and directors typically receive a one-time fee without retaining any rights over their work, unlike in Hollywood where unions like SAG-AFTRA ensure residual payments for re-aired content.
Furthermore, the veteran actress highlighted the industry's failure to provide meaningful roles for older women. Gidwani expressed frustration that actresses over 30 are often typecast as grandmothers, missing opportunities for complex characters that involve passion, power, comedy, or action.
