When Priya Seth, who has been the cinematographer on films like Airlift (2016) and Chef (2017), began her career, she was invariably the only female assistant in the camera team. “I did not realise there was any discrimination, I just knew I was the only one,” Seth told Film Companion. People would ask her how she’d manage to lift the camera and Seth would find herself wondering which part of it was a problem. No one may have said it in as many words, but the message was clear: If you’re a cinematographer, being a woman was a disadvantage. “We completely made an effort to negate any sense of femininity in our clothing. There was this mistaken sense that if you dress more masculine, you will fit in,” remembered Seth. Neha Parti Matiyani, whose credits include Rashmi Rocket (2021) and Four More Shots Please!, was one of three girls in a six-member class that specialised in cinematography at Pune’s Film and Television Institute of India. Parti Matiyani was the only woman from the six who went on to pursue a career in cinematography. “When I started out, initially people would assume I was from the make-up or costume department. It took some getting used to for people back then to accept and learn that women can do a physically challenging job,” she said.
To be a woman technician in the male-dominated film industry is an exercise in determination. Archana Borhade, who began as a software engineer and transitioned to cinema after a gentle nudge from actor Mohan Agashe, was the only woman in a class of 20 students of cinematography. Even after she’d established herself as a cinematographer, she’d face questions. “The lightmen would say, ‘Madam, aap kyu itna kaam kar rahe ho? Aapko do-char saalo main shaadi karke ghar pe hi toh bethna hai (Madam, why are you working so hard when you’re going to settle down and quit in 2 to 4 years?)’,” recalled Borhade. “It wasn’t that they were trying to demoralise us, that’s what they had seen and that’s what they thought is going to happen.” Last year, Borhade became the first Indian woman cinematographer to be featured among American Cinematographer magazine’s list of rising photographers. So far, she has shot five feature films, and is currently working on her next.
