For decades, popular culture has been fixated on a tired, gendered trope – put multiple women on a film set, and competition, jealousy, and “catfights” are inevitable. In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost’s Zinia Bandyopadhyay, the cast of The Great Shamsuddin Family dismantled that narrative, questioning not just its truth but also the selective way on-set conflicts have historically been framed and reported.
The discussion began with a familiar assumption, that a woman-heavy set automatically breeds rivalry, an idea that one of the cast members feels is increasingly outdated.
Does rivalry between actresses really exist?
Actress Shreya Dhanwanthary chose to address the idea head-on rather than dismiss it outright. “I think it’s very natural to have competition and natural human emotions when you get together, regardless of gender. Having said that, I still think that women are more amenable in a lot of ways. Maybe that’s conditioning, maybe that’s how we’re raised. We’re generally forced to put other people’s comfort over our own.”
Kritika Kamra echoed the sentiment, questioning who continues to fuel the stereotype. “Yeah, also, who’s perpetuating this thing? It is a stereotype.”
It was quickly noted how deeply ingrained the narrative has been for audiences growing up. In fact, ‘catfight’ was the term used, or rather misused, when speaking of women clashing on set.
Kritika Kamra retorted quickly, saying how she hates the term, and added, “Always read it, always heard it. I’ve never heard it from somebody with first-hand experience. I’ve not met anyone who has actually been on a toxic set with other women. Women have been saying this in interviews, and I’ve done three projects with an overwhelming number of women on set. I’ve not experienced it.”
However, Juhi Babbar acknowledged that insecurity and jealousy do exist, but not in the gendered way they are often portrayed. “I have heard from the horse’s mouth, and I definitely know where there has been that ugly kind of competition and jealousy. Like, literally, uski saari meri saari se sundar kaise?”
Shreya was quick to contextualise that behaviour. “But that’s also with dudes,” she said. “I feel like that’s also with dudes. Insane egos with them. I think this is an actor problem.”
Juhi agreed, calling such reportage “partial, selective,” but emphasised that jealousy among actresses did exist. “There have been incidents in my childhood, I heard ke wo shooting ruk gayi, kyuki do heroines ka aapas mein yeh tha, ke uski dress aise hi toh meri rahe hai.”
‘Men have actually fought on sets, and hurt each other’
But Kritika countered that perception with an example that rarely becomes gossip. “Yeah, but how many shoots have actually stopped? People like to tell these stories more,” she said. “On my sets, twice this has happened – on two different projects – where, during an action scene, two leading men actually fought. They hurt each other. Not just that day’s shoot, but the next day’s shoot also got cancelled.”
Shreya added one final observation about what doesn’t usually make headlines. “And shoots don’t happen because they don’t arrive on set on time,” she said. “And nobody talks about that.”
‘Kritika Kamra is ready to be a director’: Juhi Babbar
Even during the interview, the three actresses showed great camaraderie and a bond, praising and lifting each other. In fact, Juhi Babbar felt that she had finally found her ‘sisters’ while shooting for the film.
“I didn’t have a sister, but I got these two sisters from this film, for the rest of my life,” she said. Acknowledging that she has done comparatively less on-screen work due to her theatre background, Juhi added that both her co-stars were a constant source of support on set.
She was particularly effusive in her praise for Kritika Kamra, hinting at a future behind the camera. “I don’t know when she’s going to turn into a director,” Juhi said, pointing to Kritika’s sharp understanding of filmmaking. “She’s so good with camera angles, continuity — ‘I was standing here, you were standing there, this is how it was.’” Juhi concluded with a quiet but confident conviction, “I don’t know if she realises this yet, but she’s ready to direct. She’s technically so sound.
She knows her job. And I think for any actor, it’s so important.”
About The Great Shamsuddin Family
The Great Shamsuddin Family is directed by Anusha Rizvi and features an ensemble cast, including Farida Jalal, Joyeeta Dutta, Sheeba Chaddha, Natasha Rastogi, Purab Kohli, and Dolly Ahluwalia, among others, apart from Kritika Kamra, Shreya Dhanwanthary, and Juhi Babbar. The story centres on Bani, played by Kamra, a divorced academic, whose apartment becomes a hub for family crises as relatives descend, disrupting her critical work deadline. It is streaming on JioHotstar.
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