Kirti Kulhari: The idea of a gender-neutral society is being pushed to an extent that is not necessary

Recently the Berlin film festival announced a decision to present a gender-neutral award instead of the Best Actor and Best Actress. Kirti Kulhari, who understands and appreciates the sentiment behind the decision, feels it wasn’t really needed.

“I see no difference between male and female. Having said that, I like the idea of males and females being awarded differently and separately for their efforts. While we are fighting for a gender-neutral society, which is great, I think it’s also being pushed to an extent that I feel is not necessary. I like the distinction between a male and a female and how they individually are enough in themselves because they have their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s the coming together of the two that kind of makes the society a whole. In this case, I don’t think categorising awards in the same slot was necessary,” says the Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) actor.

While the decision will surely affect the awards seasons and Kulhari surmises it’s very likely that world over award organisers will follow suit. “We tend to follow the frenzy towards good or bad things, especially now with the world going through its own revolution, through which a lot of people are coming forward to make a difference to the way the society is to change it for the better. A lot of people wouldn’t want to be left behind or be called out for not supporting this. On social media if you don’t do what A is doing, for their own reasons, then supporters of A will shame and reprimand you, which is not healthy, I feel,” she says.

A number of people have welcomed the move of a gender-neutral award, but there are others who feel that with a handful of strong roles written for women, with the absence of best actress awards, it would reduce the number of awards women got for their work. What is her take on the same? “Honestly, we will see how this whole idea of making it gender-neutral works and the direction it takes. There is a possibility that it gets affected, at the same time, I think there’s an entire movement that the world is going through for women as well. Considering that, I think it will not really affect the kind of roles women are being offered, the number of roles offered to them and the content that is written for them. It’s very possible for this movement to go hand-in-hand with the cause of gender neutrality,” she signs off.