Bollywood, a glittering world of dreams and the glittering performances that go with it, usually has a less glamorous reality accompanying it. Such a gap was recently exposed by actress Nushrratt Bharuccha: the stark contrast in services, ie, vanity vans and washrooms, provided to male and female actresses.
The brazen coming-out by Bharuccha hints at an age-old problem of gender imbalance in the profession, where male performers usually have better facilities to flaunt. “I asked to have the vanity van of the hero,” she was reported to have said in the interview, highlighting the disparity and the necessity for more equal terms.
It’s not simply about luxury; it’s about ease of comfort and professionalism, suggesting a deeper structural prejudice that habitually ignores the requirements of women artists.
Nushrratt Bharuccha Highlights On-Set Amenity Divide
Difference in vanity van and washroom amenities is but one reflection of the wider, frequently overlooked gender imbalance in Bollywood’s production system. While top male performers are sometimes given large, equipped vanity vans, equipped with onboard washrooms, women performers, even top ones, receive smaller, less luxurious options, sometimes even without personal bathrooms.
This inconsistency can lead to extreme inconvenience and discomfort, particularly in the case of grueling and extensive shoot schedules. For example, location shooting, male stars may have luxurious, air-conditioned vans with full amenities, while female actresses are left with less sophisticated arrangements involving a more public or less private vehicle for required functions.
This is not anecdotal experience; this is systemic malfunction that has been accommodated silently for years, symbolizing a pecking order that values male comfort over female convenience and privacy.
Advocating for Equity: A Call for Change
Nushrratt Bharuccha’s gesture of speaking out on the subject is a powerful force for good change. Her own experience of needing to ask for permission to enter a “hero’s” vanity van is a classic illustration of the imperative requirement for resources being spread more evenly.
The industry, notorious for its liberalism of approach in film-making on-screen, must reflect and react to such basic inequalities off-screen. Standardizing the procedures for vanity van facilities, providing equal access to clean and private bathroom facilities to all performers irrespective of gender, and cultivating a culture of mutual respect for one another are crucial measures in the right direction.
This measure towards more equity is not so much about offering superior facilities; it’s about respecting and considering the talent of all artists equally and making the workplace more professional and respectful for all employees who participate in Bollywood.
Also Read: It Just Felt Dirty: Surveen Chawla Recalls Casting Couch Becoming A Trend In Bollywood
