1. 2/28/2016 Women on top
https://web.archive.org/web/20030820100051/http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=4818 1/2
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Venita Coelho
July 04, 2003
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FIREHORSE FILMS
Women on top
Mahatma Gandhi had said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the
world." In keeping with his philosophy, two likeminded women filmmakers
Venita Coelho and Deepti Datt have come together to form India’s first women’s
film company, FireHorse Films, in the sunshine state of Goa...
hen Venita Coelho and Deepti Datt met, they discovered that they had a
lot in common. Both were born in 1966 and both had similar creative
ideas. It was only natural that they decided to work together and
launched FireHorse Films, which incidentally is India’s first women film company.
Why the two named their company FireHorse is an interesting story. Explain the
duo, "1966 was the Chinese year of the FireHorse. The Chinese believed that
FireHorses were headstrong and potentially dangerous to the social order. Both of
us are born in 1966, and both of us have a strong mind like the FireHorse. Our
banner will encourage creative women in India and around the world, who are
unafraid to question the status quo and push the envelope. More power to them
and their work for which FireHorse Films will provide a platform."
The philosophy behind FireHorse Films is simple: women first. "In the subjects we explore, in the films we make, in
the technicians we choose to work with, it will always be women first," say Venita and Deepti, "Our goal is to become
a selffunded, successful, commercial, filmproduction company. We believe in success by the high standards that
we set for ourselves. As such, we are an organisation that will seek, always, to work with women professionals of the
highest calibre. We believe in raising the standards, not conforming to them."
The idea for a womencentric film company came into being in February 2003,
during a discussion between Venita and Deepti, regarding the increasing incidence
of pedophilia in the tourist belt of Goa, where both live. A shared desire to move
beyond pure, commercial entertainment and apply their professional film
experience to address subjects that matter to them as women, started to evolve
from idea to realisation. "As professional filmmakers we are aware that in India, the
Hindi commercial film is perhaps the most powerful media available to generate
public awareness among the largest possible audience. It became apparent, from
our experience as women in the film industry, the kind of subject matter social
issues important to us as women, that we would want to explore through film,
would not be received well by a largely maledominated Indian filmfinance world.
Having considered the hard fact that there are no commercial film companies in
India run by women, we concluded what we needed was to create our own
platform," say the twosome.
Using their professional background as filmmakers and their strong association, both inside and outside the film
industry, with other professional women who shared their vision, Venita and Deepti decided to create FireHorse
Films. "By then, March 8, International Women’s Day, was just around the corner and we worked immediately to put
together the launch of the Film Company on this significant day," they inform.
FireHorse Films primary aim is to make commercial and documentary films dealing with issues important to women,
by women filmmakers. Two such projects underway are Monsters Under The Bed, a film written by Venita based on
personal experience with pedophilia, and Bombay Stories, a documentary by Deepti on the reality of five women’s
lives in a small suburb of the city. Made in an interactive and energised visual format of music television, Bombay
Stories explores the status of women today in the different economic and class segments of urban, postliberal,
Indian society, as represented by a small suburb in Mumbai.
"These films are the beginning of our work towards addressing the enormous challenges faced by women in the
Indian film industry," says Venita and Deepti, "Women work much harder than their male counterparts, to get a foot in
