Celebrated makeup and hair artist Namrata Soni, known for her work with some of the biggest names in Bollywood, opened up about the resistance and intimidation she faced while entering the film industry at a time when the space was largely controlled by men.
Speaking to ANI, Namrata said she was among the earliest women to attempt a breakthrough in an industry where makeup departments were traditionally run by men, while women were confined to hairdressing roles. “I must have been maybe the second female makeup artist in the industry. It was dominated by men. And it was very scary. It was a makeup dada and a hair didi,” she said.
She recalled how union members would create hurdles for her on set, attempting to prevent her from working. “I would be on set, and the union would turn up. The cine union would turn up. They would come and harass the producers and fine them for hiring a woman makeup artist. They would expect us to hide in vanity vans because they didn’t want us to be on set,” she said.
In one of the most disturbing instances, Namrata shared that her family began receiving threatening calls. “My mother would get threatening phone calls on the landline, like voicemails that if your daughter doesn’t stop working, we’re going to cut off her hands when she’s coming back from Film City,” she added.
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Namrata also spoke about the legal battle she and others fought in the Supreme Court to give women makeup artists the right to work freely in the industry. During this phase, she found unexpected support from a leading male actor. “It was this amazing male actor whom I absolutely love. He called the union, asked me to keep quiet, and just hear them out,” she said.
She recalled how the resistance came not only from men but also from within the existing system of hairdressers and makeup artists. “The hairdressers and the makeup artists who had come from the union were so angry at me. They were like, ‘If I’m a hairdresser, my daughter becomes a hairdresser. If I have a son, my son will become a makeup artist’,” she said.
Despite these challenges, Namrata credited several industry figures for supporting her early on, including Sonam Kapoor, Karan Johar, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Farah Khan, Sameera Reddy and Preity Zinta, all of whom encouraged women to work with women.
The post Namrata Soni recalls facing hostility as a woman makeup artist in a male-dominated industry: “My mother would get threatening phone calls” appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
