KRITI

Kriti Sanon: When an actress hikes her salary, people ask how can she charge so much?

Pay disparity in Bollywood is a debate that never seems to reach any conclusion. While male actors get paid a mammoth sum, sometimes even going into profit-sharing, female stars, despite a dedicated fan-following, have to make do with whatever is offered to them.

When Kriti Sanon was asked to talk about pay disparity on Day 2 of the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2019, during a session titled, #iFeelYouGirl: On liberty, equality & creativity. And expanding space to be a woman in Bollywood, she said, “Pay disparity still very much exists. Remuneration should be paid on the basis of how much you do [your part] in a film and also the number of audiences you are able to pull into the theatre. If your actors – male and female – have the same amount the role, the payment difference would be four times. If the popularity of the male actor is more, the difference would be ten times. That gap, I cannot understand. I understand the gap being there. Female-oriented films do not pull in that much audience, but it is changing. There is a Piku, Queen, Raazi. There have been films around female characters that have also made money. But the remuneration gap is not changing that much. Women need to start to take a stand.”

But Kriti assures one that all is not bad with the industry. There is a change, however subtle that may be. “I feel things are changing a lot. Better roles are being written for women. Treatment wise also, things are changing. Women are standing up for themselves and wanting to prove themselves. But some instances do make you feel that patriarchy still exists.”

Clearly, there’s a long way to go, but a change is afoot.

On the work front, apart from Panipat and Housefull 4, Kriti will be seen in Mimi, a story about surrogacy.