2 weeks ago
Kitu Gidwani Slams 'Fake' Bollywood's Ageism, Royalties and IP Rights
An actress named Kitu Gidwani has acted in movies and on TV for more than forty years.
She told a magazine that she is not happy with how the Indian movie world, called Bollywood, treats older women.
She says that when women grow older, they only get asked to play mothers or aunts.
She wants to play strong, fun, exciting characters instead.
She also says actors do not get paid whenever their movies and shows are shown again.
In America, actors get these payments, called royalties.
She thinks India needs a group like the Screen Actors Guild to protect actors.
She believes artists should be able to work for ten years and then live off their royalties.
Kitu became famous in shows like Air Hostess, Swabhimaan, and Shaktimaan.
Kitu Gidwani called Bollywood a 'fake industry' and a 'cottage industry' that runs by its own 'vague rules'.
She said intellectual property rights and creative rights for artists are 'zero in India' and producers pay a one-time fee.
She noted India lacks an equivalent of Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild to protect artistes.
She criticised the industry for denying older women powerful roles, saying they are typecast as mothers, maasis, or daadis.
Gidwani, who has worked for over four decades, debuted in the 1984 film Holi and became famous through Air Hostess, Swabhimaan, and Shaktimaan.
- Who
- Kitu Gidwani, a veteran Indian actor with more than four decades in film and television.
- What
- She criticised Bollywood as a 'fake industry', citing ageism, unpaid royalties, and a lack of intellectual property and creative rights.
- Where
- India, in remarks about the Bollywood and Indian entertainment industry.
- When
- Not specified in the article.
- Why
- She argues older women are restricted to stereotypical roles and artists lack royalties and a protective union like Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild.
Key facts
- Actor
- Kitu Gidwani
- Experience
- More than four decades in films and television
- Debut film
- Holi (1984)
- Breakthrough role
- Air Hostess (Doordarshan, 1986)
- Notable TV roles
- Svetlana in Swabhimaan; Geeta Vishwas in Shaktimaan
- Notable films
- Dance of the Wind, Earth, Rukhmavati Ki Haveli, Fashion, Abhay, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Deham
- Key criticisms
- Ageism, unpaid royalties, zero IP rights, no actors' union in India
- Key quote
- 'Bollywood is not a real industry; it's a cottage industry.'
Quotes
Kitu Gidwani
Veteran Bollywood actress and television star
“"Intellectual property rights and creative rights are zero in India. You don't have rights over your work. The producer gives you and the director a one-time fee, and then he can do what he wants with the property."”
NDTV
“"We don't want to play the generic mother or maasi. We want to play good, enduring roles with sex, love, power, comedy, and action."”
NDTV








