'Actors must be sensitised about gender-based violence'

Mumbai: Writer Varun Grover has called for experts to monitor the violent sequences in movies, especially those featuring women.

Grover, known for penning the Neeraj Ghaywan-directed 'Masaan' and 'Netflix' series 'Sacred Games', said filmmakers and content creators need to take proactive steps to sensitise actors about scenes involving violence against women.

"There are intimacy coordinators today who choreograph intimate scenes in films and shows, inform the actors what they are going to do and how it will be done. Similarly, we need experts to choreograph and coordinate scenes involving violence and its impact on the audience so that violence in our cinema does not become a medium for normalising it," he said.

The 48-year-old scribe was speaking at a conversation session in Mumbai, which was part of the 'Fursat Mei Serious Baatein' event organised by Delhi-based women's rights NGO, 'Breakthrough'.

The event is a series of conversations hosted by Grover where he speaks to leading writers and filmmakers from the Hindi film industry to explore and initiate discussions around the negative impact of normalising violence on screen.

The guests in the series include noted filmmakers Vikramaditya Motwane, Sudip Sharma, Shonali Bose and Alankrita Shrivastava.

Priyanka Kher, Head of Media at 'Breakthrough', said the objective of the series is to get influencers and leading people from Bollywood to start speaking about the problematic nature of violence against women.

"Pop culture is a big influencer. Sensitising actors about violence in films, particularly against women, can significantly help us in shifting ideas and norms around the stereotypical depiction of women. This chat series is an attempt to encourage conversations about the importance of creating gender-progressive content for audiences," she added.