Filmmaker Aparna Sen recently took a dig at Farah Khan. She stated that believes women directors are “confident enough in their own skin to critique their woman characters; and then you have woman filmmakers who have a male gaze. They play according to the rules of the patriarchal system and make a success of it. For instance, Farah Khan, who makes predominantly mainstream films, has a distinct male gaze, except has a tongue firmly planted in her cheek while playing the macho game.”
She further asserted, “Male filmmakers only need to tap their female selves in order to develop their female gaze as many great filmmakers have done. But why is it important to do so? Because the world has been run by aggressive males and landed itself in a fine mess. It is time that the female gaze made its presence felt both in cinema and in a world that's been driven by intolerance, greed, hate and lust. If we look at the depiction of sex, the male filmmakers will usually have the man in the role of an aggressor while the woman will remain passive. It will take an Alankrita Srivastava (who directed Lipstick Under My Burkha) to show up women's sexual desires in a way every woman can identify with. A filmmaker can have a female gaze while having a male protagonist.”
