EXCLUSIVE Interview! Not Just Bollywood | Karan Boolani on Thank You For Coming and women's orgasm

Bhumi Pednekar lead Thank You For Coming talks about women sexual desires and smashing patriarchy with the right dash of humour.

Cinema is changing and so are the ideas revolving around women are also changing. Women no longer just play ornamental roles in movies and that’s the best part of today’s films. When Firstpost asked the director of Thank You For Coming, Karan Boolani, why a film on women orgasm, he questioned back, “Why not?”

Edited excerpts from the interview:

How and why a movie on women orgasm?

The idea for Thank You for Coming came about with Radhika Anand, our script writer. She came to us with the story and we went talking on this topic on women orgasm.  She told me that it’s going to be about a girl who has never had an orgasm and then one day she wakes up to realise that she has had her orgasm for the first time, but doesn’t remember with whom. And we just started laughing after she explained the idea. Then we all got together and it just started getting richer and richer with their life experiences.

Cinema is changing and so are the ideas revolving around women are also changing. And for now women are no longer doing ornamental roles in movies. What do you have to say about that?

I was the assistant director for Aisha and I have been through the entire process of making and editing the film, I remember when Aisha was coming out there was so much push back about chick flicks and women leading stories like this who are privileged when it comes to clothes and dealing with urban problems. And then came Veere Di Wedding and Khoobsurat and started to see it grow. And when Veere Di Wedding released, girls came out in groups to watch that film. And I think I have seen this happening over a decade. And the audiences are gradually getting interested in women films.

What was the response of the film at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)?

The response was great. I got stopped in the road for the first time in my life. Somebody recognised me which felt really good in an unknown country. There were many girls who came to me telling me that it’s ‘my story’ after watching Thank You for Coming.

If the writers go on strike like the way it happened in Hollywood, what happens to the filmmakers and how do they deal with the crisis?

 We will be out of our jobs, if that happens. I have come from a place where writing is the hardest thing to do. They are the people who bring the emotion or rather the soul to a film. Writing is a very daunting and intimidating task. And as directors and producers, it’s our job to protect that sanity and make it safe for them to express themselves because things change and evolve always. The writers are the fundamental building block for our journey.

Why are there not enough movies being made on women’s sexual desires? Are we still ashamed of talking about it?

I just hope that after Thank You for Coming, more and more films are made on women’s sexual desires. I think we have had so many conversations about male pleasure in cinema. I remember when Vicky Donor came about, although that was not about pleasure, it was more of a medical and social topic, then too people felt it was an awkward subject to talk about. But still, the film allowed it to enter the homes of the people and they understood the concept of fertility experts and sperm donors.

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