These Celebrities Have Spoken Out Against the Gender Pay Gap in Bollywood—And, We're All For It

The gender wage disparity conversation; it's been a long time coming. According to ADP's 'People at Work 2021: A Global Workforce View' study, in India, only 65 per cent of women received a pay hike or bonus for taking on extra responsibilities or a new role compared to 70 per cent of men. That said, the gender pay gap is an issue that goes much deeper than just salaries—a stark reflection of our society's archaic mindset and prejudiced work culture. 

While there is a long road ahead, we are steps closer. In the true spirit of feminism, over the past decade, members of the film fraternity have become vocal about the apparent pay disparity where female actors in pivotal roles aren't receiving equal pay for equal work when compared to their male counterparts. From global icon PeeCee to the woman-with-an-opinion Kangana Ranaut, here's what the who's who of the industry have to say. 

 

Sonam Kapoor: "The pay gap is ridiculous. I can stand up to it, but then I don’t get those roles, and I’m okay with that. I can afford to do that. I realised over the past two or three years that I have no right to judge anybody. I’m privileged, so making difficult choices isn’t really f**king difficult. I think it is about time, as women, as actors, as artists that we get our due."

 

Deepika Padukone: "I know my track record and what I'm worth. I know that my co-actors films haven't been doing as well as my films have been doing. It made absolutely no sense. I was okay to say no to that film based on that one thing as I thought it was unfair." 

 

Anushka Sharma: "In my industry, we women get paid about ¼ of the salary of our male counterparts. Imagine, our expenditure on dresses and accessories is almost 40% of our income. Yet we are given a standard citizen's exemption limit."

 

Aditi Rao Hydari: "I don't really understand why we are paid less than the male actors, because we put in equal efforts, and the recent past has shown that actresses can deliver a hit film too. We deserve better pay, equal to what actors get."

 

Kangana Ranaut: "My male counterparts are paid thrice the amount. No one can guarantee the success of a film, so why such discrimination? I don't just do one scene or one item song in a film. I can only speak for myself, and I am commanding a certain amount of money. But, I still think I am underpaid."

 

Taapsee Pannu: "You will always read about this issue about a hike in salary when it comes to women. But why not? She is one of the biggest female superstars we have in the country. If she commands a certain salary for her time, it’s her job. Do you think any other mythological characters that are played by men, do you think they do it for free? I don’t think so."

 

Katrina Kaif: "Give the female-dominated films—with maybe one or two female leads—the same budget and mounting that you are giving to the male stars or the combination of a male and a female star. Give that to a female film and see what happens then."

 

Priyanka Chopra: "I don‘t like the fact that I get paid much less than the boys. I don‘t like the fact that the disparity is so massive."

 

Kriti Sanon: "I kind of feel that as much as it is unfair, the difference is not the problem, the difference is a lot and that’s the problem. My point is that a man doesn’t have to do it by doing a male-centric film, but sometimes a female has to prove it by doing a female-centric film and say that this is the audience that she has pulled in."

 

Vidya Balan: "We were always part of a male-dominated society. But now with films and TV, there seems to be a prominent shift, and perhaps, it is going to be a female-dominated society. There is a huge pay disparity between males and females in Bollywood. But I'm sure with time this gap would reduce. We will definitely fight to bridge this gap."

 

Sonakshi Sinha: "The only thing I can think of changing in Bollywood right now is the pay disparity because we’re working in this day and age where films revolving around women are being made."

 

Swara Bhasker: "I am not saying that if I, being a female actor, work for 10 days, I should expect the pay that an actor gets for 100 days of work. But definitely, if I am working for 100 days, then I am expected to get an equal amount of pay as my male counterpart."

 

Shabana Azmi: "It's existing only because it's the male star who brings the bucks in the box office. No matter what you do, the female-oriented films get much less money with limited reach due to which the budgets have to be controlled."

 

Shah Rukh Khan: "In the past too, I have made my stance on equality of genders clear. I strongly believe dues meted out should be according to merit and not gender. Both genders have their own plus and minus points, though I love the women who make work so beautiful."

 

Arjun Kapoor: "We as actors have never stopped any actress from earning more money than us. I've never asked my co-stars how much they are paid. It's a business, and since a few years the protagonists have been actors, but it is changing. We are seeing a Raazi, Padmaavat, Veere Di Wedding being made and things will change." 

 

Kajol Devgan: "I think that issue has to do with box office collections to a big extent and there is gender issue for sure, but if you see, not a single actress film can do a 500 crore business the way a Salman Khan film does at the box office. Actresses over the years have been an integral part of the success of a film, but after all, it's a business. I am very grateful that today's audience has changed and they are going to theatres to watch films like Kahaani and Raazi. People are making these films because it is now financially okay to make them, and it's all happening because of the audience changing perspective."