'Always wanted to show strong, independent women through cinema'

Anushka Sharma. Picture courtesy/ Instagram account

Actor Anushka Sharma says as a producer she will continue to champion stories like Bulbbul that show strong and independent women on the screen. Bulbbul, which started streaming on Netflix from June 24, is Anushka and brother Karnesh Ssharma's second production to garner rave reviews after the success of "Paatal Lok" on Amazon Prime Video last month. The film marks the directorial debut of lyricist-dialogue writer Anvita Dutt and also completes her trilogy of supernatural stories with female protagonists in central roles after "Pari" and "Phillouri".

"The idea that Clean Slate Filmz would one day create a genre of our own was never an intentional move by us. We, however, always wanted to create a style of story-telling that celebrates women and their spirit. "We always wanted to show strong, independent women to audiences through cinema and 'Bulbbul' is our new offering in this regard. Portrayal of women in our cinema has always been skewed and lopsided. I felt that as an actress and I decided that I will correct this as much as I can through my productions," Anushka said in a statement here.

The 32-year-old actor, who decided to turn producer at the age of 25, said she is happy with all the love for "Bulbbul" as she and her brother "really put our necks on the line to make projects that we hope will be clutter-breaking". To be called "daring and adventurous" for their efforts has been a real validation as producers, said Anushka. "Karnesh and I aren't scared storytellers. We make each project thinking we have nothing to lose. We are non-conformists and that's what has really, really helped us to explore and create. It is a huge milestone moment for us at Clean Slate Filmz because both 'Pataal Lok' and now 'Bulbbul' have got great reviews and janta ka (public) appreciation," she said.

Anushka, whose credits as an actor include films like "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi", "Band Baaja Baaraat", "NH10", "Sultan" and "PK", said she will continue to back talented filmmakers like Anvita, Sudip Sharma, Prosit Roy, Avinash Arun, Anshai Lal as their "bold cinematic voices need to be heard." "Clean Slate Filmz has always been home to really talented first time writers, directors, musicians and actors looking to make a mark in cluttered Bollywood and we have tried to do our best to bring their geniuses on screen with every single project," she said.

"Bulbbul", starring Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwary, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Paoli Dam and Rahul Bose, is a coming-of-age story of a child bride who grows up to be an enigmatic woman in a place plagued by the strange murders.

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