'Women need more representation in movies'

Mumbai: From Neerja to Padman to her latest Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga Sonam Kapoor has made some unconventional choices in her career and the actor says her aim is to support stories which have strong women representation.

While Neerja was the story of slain flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, Padman talked about menstrual hygiene and it was her character who helped the protagonist (Akshay Kumar) to make low-cost sanitary napkins. Veere Di Wedding revolved around four contemporary Indian women and with Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga she became the first A-list actor to have played a homosexual character.

"Women need to have more representation in this film industry. Women don't have it. Last year we have had Veere Di Wedding and Raazi doing well commercially. There should be more women representation in terms of lead, more thought and content for them.

"There are talented women in the film industry here, who have also achieved stardom and it all should be used in the right way," Sonam said. The actor, who made her debut in films with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya and starred in a few cliche romantic dramas, shifted her focus to content driven projects with Aanand L Rai's Raanjhanaa. She then featured in films like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Khoobsurat among others.

Sonam believes with content becoming the hero of the film, there is no "safe"or "unsafe" zone for actors.

"Today we have films headed by Ayushmann Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal and Rajkummar Rao and they are so successful. Nobody knows what the audience is going to like or not like at this point. There is no formula. The only thing that works is honesty, integrity and a good story," she added.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, released on February 1.