A film doesn't have to be led by a man to pull audience to theatre: Kriti Sanon on 'Crew' success

New Delhi: Actor Kriti Sanon hopes the success of her latest release "Crew" paves the way for more big-budget titles with women fronting the cast.

The National Award winner, who was last seen in "Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya", stars as one of the three leads alongside Tabu and Kareena Kapoor Khan in the film, which has grossed over Rs 100 crore worldwide within nine days of release.

Directed by Rajesh A Krishnan, "Crew" is a heist comedy that follows three air hostesses who take charge of their destiny when their airline goes bankrupt. It also stars Diljit Dosanjh, Kapil Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Saswata Chatterjee and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.

Sanon said makers often feel viewers are not interested in "female oriented".

"A film doesn't have to be led by a man to pull the audience to the theatre. For the longest time, people have not taken the risk of scaling female-oriented films as they do for male-centric ones. They feel audiences won't come to the theatre and they won't recover the money.

"This (response to 'Crew') is sort of a start of a change, I am hoping, at least. Slowly, I hope people will come out and risk putting money and scaling a woman-led film as much as they do for male-led films because that also translates to the same amount of numbers at the box office," she added.

Citing the example of 2022's "Gangubai Kathiawadi", the 33-year-old actor said director Sanjay Leela Bhansali made the Alia Bhatt-starrer on a large scale and the film was a critical as well as commercial success. Interestingly, Sanon and Bhatt shared the best actress National Film Award for their performances in "Mimi" and "Gangubai Kathiawadi".

"He (Bhansali) presented his woman character, like, for the lack of a better word, a hero. Normally, when you see films which have only female protagonists, the budget is usually constrained. People don't believe those films would pull the audience to the theatres the way a man-led film does.

"There are not many expectations. People's belief is low. That belief needs to get stronger for things to change. If you invest in a film the same amount that you do on 'Dunki' and present the film on the same scale... If you will make the same content with the female-led film, you should believe that the film will do well because your content is that strong," she added.

Sanon is now looking forward to the release of "Do Patti", which also marks her production debut via her Blue Butterfly Films. The movie, slated to premiere on Netflix this year, reunites Sanon with her "Dilwale" co-star Kajol.

"The shooting for 'Do Patti' is over. We are in the editing process. We finished shooting for it pretty fast considering how complicated the film is and how many places I have visited for the film. I have done a little bit of Bharat darshan of many hill stations for this film. From Mussoorie, Nainital to Manali, I have gone everywhere," she said.

As a producer, Sanon said "Do Patti" was a wonderful learning experience.

"I will always want to produce films that say something that I feel passionate about. It's important to create opportunities for women in general. Many people write a lot for men but there aren't so many people who write for women, especially after they reach a certain age. But that doesn't mean I am confined to any one genre but those stories have to have some heart and some sort of warmth," she added.