Sonam Kapoor with the WIFTAI Advisory Board (L to R) Sooni Taraporewala, Uma Da Cunha, Kiran Rao, Petrina D’Rozario, Vandana Malik, Zarina Mehta, Paromita Vohra, Jeroo Mulla, Ashvini Yarde, Anupama Chopra, Madhoshree Datta

Just around Women’s Day, Women in Film & Television launched its Mumbai chapter (the first in India) headed by Petrina D’Rozario. Present at the event were Sonam Kapoor, Kiran Rao (she’s on the board of directors), Zoya Akhtar, Nandita Das, Anupama Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani, and more.

Sonam Kapoor

The group is a super initiative which is a network of women in the film and television industry; it provides a host of opportunities, such as mentoring/internships, access to workshops, etc. Yep, that means there are internships with Zoya and Kiran available, as well as internships with a host of other stalwarts in areas such as cinematography and editing. Membership is Rs. 500/year for students (without access to WIFT India/International online directories), and Rs. 1000/year for professionals.

Kiran Rao

The launch was a great platform; it was lovely to hear people like Kiran and Zoya speak about the industry. And of course the men came out to support, namely directors Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani, and UTV head Ronnie Screwvala (who comes across as super fun).

Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Mira Nair, Ronnie Screwvala

The Mumbai chapter of WIFT sounds terrific (and note, it doesn’t matter which city you’re from, you can join anyway). I see it being especially useful for those who are just starting out in the industry; it gives you a platform and of course provides a ton of networking opportunities and chances to learn. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out their website!

Kalki Koechlin, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap