New Delhi, 8 April

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 in the film, which has grossed over ₹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.

Kriti said makers often feel viewers are not interested in "female oriented". She said, “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 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, Kriti and Alia shared the Best Actress National Film Award for their performances in Mimi and Gangubai Kathiawadi.

“He 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,” she said.

"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.

Kriti 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 Kriti 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, Kriti 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.