Imtiaz Ali on why male characters are more complex than female ones in his films

Director Imtiaz Ali has spoken about how he treats male characters in his films differently from female characters. Speaking with Times of India, Imtiaz said that those male characters are not directly derived from his life experiences. He added that he does credit "greater intelligence and resilience to women".

Imtiaz shared why the women in his movies are shown to be more resilient. He said, "The characters, namely Aditya Dharamraj Kashyap in 'Jab We Met', Janardan-Jordan-Jakhar (JJ) in 'Rockstar', Gautam or Gutlu Kapoor in 'Cocktail', or even Ved Vardhan Sahni in 'Tamasha', are not directly derived from my life experiences."

He added, "It's not as I have only seen men creating trouble for themselves and women coming forward to solve them. Though I do credit greater intelligence and resilience to women. Perhaps this is my aspiration, to see women doing more in society which can be manifested in my films." Imtiaz spoke about the characters of his film played by Shahid Kapoor in "Jab We Met", Ranbir Kapoor in "Rockstar" and "Tamasha", and Saif Ali Khan "Cocktail".

Imtiaz made his debut as a director with the 2005 film "Socha Na Tha". He then directed films such as "Love Aaj Kal", "Highway", "Jab Harry Met Sejal", "Laila Majnu" and "Love Aaj Kal 2". His last film was "Amar Singh Chamkila" starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra.

The film presents the untold true story of Punjab's original rockstar of the masses, who emerged from the shadows of poverty and rose to the heights of popularity in the '80s due to the sheer power of his music, angering many along the way, which led to his assassination at the young age of 27. Diljit Dosanjh portrays Chamkila, the top-selling artiste of his era. Parineeti essays the role of Amar Singh Chamkila's wife, Amarjot Kaur. 

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"Amar Singh Chamkila" is currently streaming on Netflix.