While women actors over 40 are reclaiming space on screen, the Indian film industry continues to marginalize women creators—writers, directors, producers—who are as ready, capable, and essential, writes Vinta Nanda.
Veteran women creators in Indian cinema—writers, directors, editors, and producers over 40—are routinely sidelined, despite a growing space for mature female actors on screen. While stars like Kajol, Neena Gupta, and Vidya Balan lead powerful films, their peers behind the camera remain shut out. Indian film industry ageism and sexism continue to limit creative leadership opportunities for women, ignoring their lived experiences and storytelling depth. It’s time for Bollywood and regional cinema to fund, hire, and promote veteran women filmmakers—ensuring diverse, emotionally rich narratives rooted in real life are finally brought to screen.

Indian cinema has long mirrored societal values—frequently distorted, occasionally visionary. In recent years, we’ve witnessed a subtle yet significant shift. Women actors in their forties and fifties are returning to the screen in leading roles—commanding scripts, owning stories, and, most importantly, being seen. Kajol in Maa, Neena Gupta in Badhaai Ho, Shefali Shah in Delhi Crime, Vidya Balan in Shakuntala Devi, Sharmila Tagore in Gulmohar, Moushumi Chatterjee, and Rakhee in more reflective roles—all point to a new cinematic openness. But behind the camera? The silence is deafening

Progress on Screen, Regression Behind It
This resurgence of mature actresses has created the illusion of an inclusive industry. But when one looks beyond the screen—to the writers' rooms, directing chairs, editing suites, and production houses—the absence of women over forty is staggering. Their stories are not being told because they are not being invited to tell them.

Where are the female directors in their 50s helming mainstream films? Where are the women screenwriters crafting intergenerational dramas from lived experience? Why aren’t seasoned editors and producers shaping the language and direction of cinema today? They’re not missing. They’re being ignored. Let’s not talk about the few who belong to established Bollywood families.

The Generational Double Standard
In cinema, age grants men authority—but demands disappearance from women. Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, and Aamir Khan lead blockbusters well into their 50s and beyond. Directors like Mani Ratnam and Rajkumar Hirani are handed passion projects with total faith in their craft.

For women, turning forty has historically marked an industry expiration date. Icons like Rakhee were swiftly transitioned from romantic leads to mothers—often to the same men they had once romanced on screen. The hierarchy is blatant: a man’s age translates into power; a woman’s age is equated with irrelevance.

Women creators, in particular, are expected to fade quietly into mentorship, entrepreneurship, or invisibility. Their creative peak is considered behind them—even as their male peers ascend. A Business That Says It Wants Stories—But Only from the Young Cinema thrives on storytelling. And the stories of middle life and beyond—narratives about reinvention, aging, motherhood, solitude, strength, memory—are rich with potential. But the people best equipped to tell them—women who have lived those decades—are excluded from the creative decision-making that shapes film and series.

Ironically, these stories are still being told—but not by the women who lived them. Younger men are hired to direct films about older women. Their scripts are greenlit, their voices trusted, their authority assumed. Meanwhile, the women with real insight wait outside boardrooms and festival panels, their experience dismissed under the guise of relevance.

Exceptional Talent Isn’t the Exception—It’s the Norm Being Denied

There’s no shortage of capable veteran women creators. Leena Yadav’s Parched was a festival favourite. Vaishnavi Sundar’s Women Making Films platform has long fostered inclusion. The late Renu Saluja, one of Indian cinema’s most revered editors, remains a gold standard—yet few women have been allowed to follow her path and grow old with creative agency intact.

These women aren’t exceptions. They are evidence of what is possible when the gates are open. The problem isn’t talent. It’s access. It’s perception. It’s institutional bias.

This Isn’t Just About Inclusion. It’s About Losing Stories.

By sidelining veteran women creators, the industry loses stories only they can tell—stories shaped by caregiving, widowhood, menopause, late love, second chances, and evolving identities. Older women reflecting on youth, marriage, aging, and freedom—through the lens of objectivity and distance—offer a narrative depth that cannot be mimicked by younger creators.

These are not niche experiences. They are human experiences. And audiences are more than ready for them. The success of films like English Vinglish, Badhaai Ho, and Purwatan proves the demand. But to turn this from a passing trend into a cultural shift, the industry must do more. Women must not only be represented—they must be trusted with the pen, the camera, the editor’s blade, and the producer’s strategy.

The Way Forward: Hiring, Funding, Trusting
Indian cinema must recalibrate its assumptions about relevance and experience. Production houses, streaming platforms, and festivals must commit to commissioning work from women over forty—not as a gesture, but as a creative imperative. The question shouldn’t be, “Why hire a 55-year-old woman director?” but rather, “Why wouldn’t we?”

Equity is not just about casting. It’s about who creates, who leads, who shapes the vision, and who gets to decide what stories matter. When we empower veteran women creators, we expand not only cinematic opportunity but emotional and cultural resonance.

The women are still here. They are writing, imagining, producing in the shadows of an industry that no longer sees them. But their stories are not shadows. They are vivid, layered, and burning with life—waiting to be told. Until we make room for them, we’re not just excluding artists. We are silencing generations. And losing worlds.