Kriti Sanon Opening up about the gender bias she experienced in the Hindi film industry, she said women are often perceived differently than men even though they have the same level of participation in the work. In a conversation with Lily Singh on her YouTube channel, the actor reflected on her experience as an outsider and shared how female actors are judged more harshly for behaviors that are typically admired by male stars.Kriti admits that Bollywood has evolved over the years and now creates stronger, more layered roles for women. However, she believes there are still some deep-seated prejudices on the film scene. She says female actors are often taken for granted, while assistant directors and crew members tend to be more cautious and respectful around male stars.Looking back on her career, Kriti said that compared to modeling and engineering college, the film industry was the toughest environment she had ever worked in. She recalls that when she entered Bollywood, opportunities for women were much more limited, with most mainstream films featuring male leads and female roles mostly limited to romantic roles.Kriti said that while she feels the situation has improved significantly, subtle gender biases still persist in day-to-day interactions on set.She noted that curiosity and engagement were interpreted differently depending on the gender of the actor. Kriti, who likes to fully understand her scenes and characters, says she is often fired for asking too many questions, while male actors are also praised for doing so.“When an actress asks a question, it’s like, ‘Kitne sawal poochti hai yeh, arey 50 sawal shuru ho jaayenge (She asked a lot of questions. Let’s get started, she’s about to start asking 50 questions).’ I wanted to have a conversation like that. Contrast that with a male star asking a question, who is said to be very involved and this is what happened to me. But when the person says it, they say, ‘Okay, this can be done,'” Kriti said.Kriti Sanon went on to explain that gender bias on film sets is often subtle rather than overt. According to actors, differences in treatment can sometimes manifest in daily arrangements, such as the rooms or vehicles assigned to actors and actresses.She emphasized that the issue was not about access to better facilities, but about being treated with equal respect. Kriti said the disparity makes female actors feel less valuable than their male counterparts, which is frustrating.“A lot of times it’s the little things like the type of car or room given to the male actor and the type of room given to me. My point is, even if I get a smaller room or car, it won’t bother me, but don’t make me feel less important. Even commercials tend to call girls on sets first. They don’t realize that they are more scared of male actors and sometimes take actresses for granted,” she added of herself.Her comments sparked a wider discussion about gender inequality in the film industry, highlighting that even as the industry continues to evolve, women still face different expectations and treatment on set. Kriti believes these biases often exist in everyday interactions, where the same actions by male and female actors are perceived differently.On the work front, Kriti was recently seen in Cocktail 2.
