The makers of the upcoming film QUEEN, which stars Kangana Ranaut in the lead, were in for a pleasant surprise recently. The title and theme of their women-centric film applies to their sets too, with around 80 per cent of the crew being female. An insider reveals that wherever the film was being shot, the local crew that was hired always included a large number of women. The source says, ''True to the film's name, even the crew showed woman power in abundance.'' Hiring so many women was never consciously part of the plan. But when the makers realized just how many women were part of the crew, they were amazed.

''The director, Vikas Bahl, realized later that wherever he shot the film, most of the crew members were women,'' says the source. Vikas now admits to a new found respect for women in the film industry, who can compete with men at all levels of film making. ''I have an exceptionally talented team. It's great to see women competing neck-and-neck with men in all fields,'' he says. Major parts of QUEEN have been shot in Amsterdam and Paris, with a few sequences canned in Delhi. In the film, Kangana plays a suburban Delhi woman, who goes off on a honeymoon by herself after her marriage falls through. Since she plays a simple woman, Kangana has gone de-glam for this role. Raj kumar Yadav plays the male lead.