Kriti Sanon Says Gangubai Kathiawadi Showed Big-Scale Films Can Be Led By Women Too
During CNN-News18’s SheShakti 2025 event, National Award recipient Kriti Sanon, who was recognized for her role in Mimi in the same year that Alia Bhatt was honoured for Gangubai Kathiawadi, discussed the importance of producers and directors investing more in actresses to lead big films and powerful stories. Highlighting the impactful opening scene featuring Alia in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi, Kriti explained that female-led cinema has demonstrated its strength, and the industry should support such content with the same dedication as male-centric projects.
Kriti said, “Take a risk on the subject, not on who’s leading it. If a female-led film… the only one that comes to my mind, honestly, that has been at that scale, at that budget, was Gangubai Kathiawadi. You felt like it was larger than life. It would have been the same-looking film even if a man were leading it. And I felt like the budget, the shots, everything was taken in a larger-than-life way. When someone makes an entry, we call it a ‘hero shot’ where you make someone look larger than life. That doesn’t normally happen when a female is leading a film like that. So I was very, very happy seeing that. At least someone had the guts to put in that much money on a female-led film.”
Speaking about women making waves in Bollywood, she mentioned, “You need to really be passionate about it, and there is no shortcut. Nothing comes easy, there are no free lunches. You have to work hard towards it, and what is also very, very important is not to give up, because there will be times, especially when you don’t come from a film background, when no one’s giving you anything on a platter. There will be so many people telling you why it’s too big a dream, why it can’t happen, why contact is needed, why connections are needed, or what’s wrong with you, you’re too short, you’re too tall, you’re too thin, you’re not in the right shape, whatever. I feel people are going to tell you what’s wrong with you, but no one’s really going to tell you that you can do it other than you. So I feel you really need to be very, very driven, passionate, and patient, because it will come when the time is right, but you have to keep working on yourself.” 
Kriti Sanon’s recent work includes the Netflix thriller Do Patti (2024), where she gave a powerful performance in a double role and made her debut as a producer. Before that, she starred in Crew (2024) with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Tabu, as well as the romantic drama Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024) opposite Shahid Kapoor. Previously, Kriti received the National Film Award for Best Actress for her impactful portrayal of a surrogate mother in Mimi (2021), a role that solidified her standing as a leading actress. Her upcoming projects include Anand L. Rai’s Tere Ishk Mein, co-starring Dhanush and set to release on November 28, 2025, and Homi Adajania’s eagerly awaited sequel Cocktail 2, which begins filming this August and is planned for a late 2026 release.
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