“In an industry where 90 percent of all films fail financially, how can you say male actors are bankable, and women are not?’, asked Padmapriya, while delivering the third MR Narayana Kurup Memorial Lecture at Government College, Madappally, Kozhikode, on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. Market value is not the reason why films are predominantly male-centric, she said.

"What stops you then from telling women-centric stories and transgender persons' stories as well?" she asked while dwelling on the topic ‘Re-Telling the Tale Through the Frame of Equity and Justice’.

Padmapriya, known for her roles in Kazhcha and Rajamanikyam, said it’s deeply entrenched gender biases that lead to the under-representation of women in cinema both in terms of the stories told as well as in the equity of space in film production.

She also pointed to the stark difference in the way male and female characters are portrayed in films. While characters with agency such as executives, military officers, lawyers, gangsters etc are predominantly male, women characters are mostly beautiful young girls, heart broken, dancers, Padmapriya said. 

Drawing on her personal experience, Padmapriya said when a woman talks about issues, she becomes the issue.

She also narrated an incident where she was slapped by the director during the shoot of a Tamil film. After Padmapriya raised the issue, she had to face consequences and lost many films that were initially promised. "For a long time, I thought I was the issue," she said.

The director slapped her after accusing her of failing to perform well. Interestingly, she won the state award for her performance in the film. Stating that subjugation of women is not restricted to films, Padmapriya said it is all pervasive and needs to be fought on all fronts.

"Constantly speak up about gender bias, and increase representation of women. If you avoid speaking about micro aggression, it will come back to bite you," she said.

Booker Prize-winner Geetanali Shree and senior journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani had delivered MR Narayana Kurup memorial lectures in 2022 and 2023 respectively.