Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari says, “One cannot cut a budget on a one-door vanity especially for women to use the loo”!

#AshwinyIyerTiwari has always paved her own path and stood out for her unconventional yet significant choices both at work and in life. The director-producer chose to make her movie debut with a poignant film like #NilBatteySannata that garnered critical acclaim and Tiwari was praised for her direction and sensitive handling of the subject matter. She later went on to direct a blockbuster like ‘#BareillyKiBarfi’ and through the course of her career has always attempted to break stereotypes and inspire a positive change in society with her films.

This sensitivity and gusto Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari also brings to the decisions she makes not just in her cinema but also in the manner in which she operates her sets. The director-producer was among the first to establish a rule of having proper washrooms for women on her film sets. Conventionally when films are shot at challenging and remote locations, the crew often uses public washrooms and other amenities at restaurants or public facilities. However, Ashwiny broke barriers when she insisted that women on her set were safe and comfortable by ensuring that there were always a one-door vanity for women to use the loo on set.

Commenting on the matter, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, “As a producer or director when I’m signing my agreements the one thing that I’m always fighting for is that you can cut your budgets wherever you want but you cannot cut a budget on a one-door vanity especially for women to use the loo. This is mandatory on all my shoots. It is a problem because I remember when I would be on set we would find someone to take us to the closest restaurant and we would inform the restaurant that we would be using the loo all day. In a country like India toilets are a big problem especially for women. So it’s mandatory on my set so much so that now the vanity loo is fully equipped like a hotel bathroom with sanitizer, sanitary napkins, it has everything.”