Budget 2013: Priyanka Chopra says plenty of postives for women

What if the budget ignored Film Inc, there were plenty of positives for women, says Priyanka Chopra

It was almost like a scene from a movie - an important national event is about to begin and a tall, distinguished, powerful gentleman, dressed in a crisp white shirt and veshti walks into the event venue.

A billion ears if not pair of eyes will be hooked onto everything he will say over the next two hours. Yet, with much equanimity, tone formal, his grasp of the language evident as he spoke, he read out what he promised would be a short speech.

As he spoke, deftly handling the minor interruptions like a seasoned politician, P Chidambaram, our honorable FM, took a women-friendly course. The budget largely ignored the film industry, but there were plenty of positives for women: From an all-women bank with a kitty of Rs 1,000 crore, to a Rs 1,000-crore Nirbhaya fund for the safety of women.

As a woman professional, I would implore PC, if I may call him that, to ensure that this fund, named after the brave girl, honours what she battled for and does not remain merely tokenism. As for the film industry, which is batting unbeaten at 100, we will see you at the movies.