Producer Sarita Tanwar, who's bankrolled ALTBalaji's popular series 'Broken But Beautiful', wrapped up the highly-anticipated third installment of the web-series on Sunday. Tanwar, who has also produced Nakull Mehta's 'Never Kiss Your Best Friend', took some time out from her busy schedule to have an exclusive conservation with The Free Press Journal.
On International Women's Day 2021, the producer talks about pay parity, women-oriented content on OTT platforms and more:
How do you manage to find balance between your personal life and profession?
When the shoot is on it’s for about 12-14 hours a day. When the shoot is over, the post production is equally hectic. Then promotions. And finally release time. And if you have multiple projects on the floor, then there is no off time. But I am the sort of producer who likes to be on the sets and be involved in all the creative aspects. There are producers who don’t get involved at all. They hire teams and let them run the show and don’t even visit the set.
Your Twitter bio mentions 'Biwi No 1 and Pug Mom' before your professional achievements, tell us more about it.
It’s all about priorities. Work is very very important to me. But my personal life and relationships come first.
Over the years, we have seen OTT platforms churn out women-oriented shows featuring both - veteran actresses and newbies. Do you think OTT platforms are providing more opportunities for women than Bollywood?
I would say, universally female oriented scripts don’t get the kind of budgets that shows with male protagonists do. That’s true of films as well as the OTT platforms. What dictates the budget is the business a film is expected to do. That’s where first day collection etc also come into play.
But, on OTT platforms there is no added pressure on return of investment. So yes, female oriented scripts get green-lit and there are exciting roles for women of all ages. The OTT platforms have not only created more opportunities for women but also the kind of roles they can play.
What's your take on gender pay parity and as a producer how do you plan on bridging the gap?
Budgets on OTT platforms are also approved by the platforms. And the budget includes the fees of the actors. If I want to pay an actress the same as an actor, I am not sure it will get approved. Also, there is the saleability factor that decides the market price of an actor.
Tell us something about the storyline of ‘Broken But Beautiful’ Season 3.
The stories of all seasons of 'Broken But Beautiful' will always be about heartbreak and healing. We break in different ways and we heal in different ways. So, the actors might change but the theme will always be the same.
