Gunjan Saxena Actor Pankaj Tripathi Says He Kept Recounting Every Instance of Sacrifice Women Make While Filming for Janhvi Kapoor’s Netflix Film

Actor Pankaj Tripathi says films cannot entirely alter reality but can steer a conversation that will subsequently change mindsets, systematically and over time. In his latest release "Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl", Pankaj plays a father who is also a feminist of sorts. The film, directed by Sharan Sharma, stars Janhvi Kapoor in the title role. The actor always wanted to focus on a film like "Gunjan Saxena" -- a tale of empowerment that aims to inspire young girls to strive harder to fulfil their dreams. Gunjan Saxena – The Kargil Girl: 7 Inspiring Dialogues From The Film That Are Truly Memorable

"There was this beautiful line in the film that said -- Plane ladka udaaye ya ladki... dono ko pilot hi kehte hain'. In a beautiful simple line, the film and its story simply smashed years of set gender roles. Being a father to a daughter myself, the story shifted something within me. I want more fathers to be like Anuj Saxena (his character) and more daughters to be like Gunjan," he said. Gunjan Saxena: Did You Spot Shanaya Kapoor’s Debut In Janhvi Kapoor’s Film?

The father of a 14-year-old daughter, Pankaj says the film reminded him of several stories of his female colleagues, acquaintances, even people in his family. "I drew a lot from my own experiences for this film and kept recounting every instance of sacrifice I have seen women make to fit into gender normative roles assigned by the patriarchal society. Yes, probably films can't entirely alter reality but they can steer a conversation that will subsequently change mindsets, systematically and over a prolonged period of time," he concluded.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2020 11:33 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).