Good times have been raining on feminist screenwriter Pooja Tolani in the month of June. Fresh off the success of the dark comedy <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/maa-behen-dharna-durga-reveals-bagging-the-role-through-auditions-not-her-social-media-profile-23634109" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Maa Behen</a>, she hosted the Mumbai screening of her directorial debut, Razaa on June 27. Co-produced by Maa Behen director Suresh Triveni, the short stars Geetanjali Kulkarni and Bhumika Sharma.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jun/Pooja-Tolani_e.jpg" alt="Suresh Triveni and Pooja Tolani" width="1280" height="720" /> Suresh Triveni and Pooja Tolani
An excited Tolani informed mid-day that Razaa premiered at the Short Shorts International Film Festival in Tokyo and has been &ldquo;making festival rounds since June 2025&rdquo;. &ldquo;But this is the first time we held a private screening.&rdquo; Even as praise pours in for both projects, Tolani has moved on to new stories. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s one feature and one series, and both are in nascent stages of development,&rdquo; she said.
Asked whether it is easy to be a feminist writer in the industry, she said, &ldquo;I feel it depends on who you are working with and what you are working on. Our industry is still trying to figure out how to make women feel comfortable, from basic things like washroom facilities to pay parity. There are [writer] rooms where if you call out something incorrect gender wise, you are sometimes scoffed at, joked about, or told, &lsquo;Baap rey, jhanda gadhne aagayi&rsquo;. But I have been fairly lucky to have worked with people who are feminists.&rdquo;
<h2>On working with Madhuri Dixit-Nene</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jun/Madhuri-Dixit-a_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />
&ldquo;I used to joke about this with Suresh that my biggest achievement in life is that I made <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/madhuri-dixit-reveals-people-told-her-to-eat-more-as-she-was-skinny-23635423" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Madhuri Dixit </a>[centre] say &lsquo;Mujhe pet mein gas ho rahi hai&rsquo; on screen. I will sleep peacefully now. It was great fun to work with Madhuri, to use her image [of a diva] and also break it.&rdquo;

‘Maa Behen’ screenwriter Pooja Tolani discusses her short film ‘Razaa’ and the challenge of being a feminist in the industry

Razaa director Pooja Tolani speaks about gender bias in writer rooms

Caught in character

After the success of Maa Behen, Pooja Tolani hosted the Mumbai screening of her directorial debut Razaa. The filmmaker says the industry is still evolving on gender equality, though she considers herself fortunate to have collaborated with feminist-minded creators

Her pen, her might

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / Her pen, her might