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As per reports, Baiju Bawra producers dropped Deepika Padukone for demanding fees equal to Ranveer Singh. Why this inequality in 2021?
As women, whether you are a homemaker or a big star, it does not matter if you put in 200 percent in your work. No matter how dedicated you are, chances are that you will be underestimated as compared to men.
Like other work sectors, Bollywood too can be patriarchal and sexist. Recently, well-known Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone had to leave a film named ‘Baiju Bawra’ as according to reports she demanded equal pay as the film’s hero (husband Ranveer Singh). We have been debating on gender pay parity for so long, but sadly there are no outcomes. Just empty voices.
Reportedly, Deepika demanded Rs 10 crore as her fees. This may sound like a whooping amount but her co-star and her husband is getting almost the same amount for this film. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has himself not confirmed this but why would he?
Coming back to the gender pay topic, the question is if Ranveer Singh can get that much amount for doing a film then why not Deepika Padukone? Is she less popular than her husband Ranveer, is her hard work is anyway is less than him? The answer is no, but sorry she can’t demand for a fee she deserves!
Deepika Padukone is an A list actress who achieved stardom even before her husband Ranveer Singh. Right now she is one of the most powerful performers and highest paid actresses of Indian cinema. But all her achievements when compared seem to be valued less than her male co-stars. This is not fair at all!
The same happened with Kareena Kapoor Khan a few days back. According to reports, she asked for Rs. 12 crore as her fee to play the role of Sita in the film Ramayana but the makers pulled their hands back and decided to replace her with a new face. Of course male starts who are not as experienced or established continue to get higher pay-checks.
Kareena was trolled all over social media and her fans seemed upset about the fact that she demanded such a big amount for the upcoming mythological period saga. Though many actresses like Taapsee Pannu and Priyamani supported Kareena.
Taapsee even said that if something similar was done by a man, people would have said, ‘Iski market value badh gayi hai.’ Unfortunately, actresses are still not being seen as stars. People call an actress ‘too demanding’ but they are fine with a male actor’s fees. You will always read about a hike in salary when it comes to women.
Now an international star, Priyanka Chopra Jonas has also faced this pay parity during her initial Bollywood career. In an interview she said that she was asked to demand a moderate fee other wise will be thrown out of the film or replaced by other female actress.
Anushka Sharma too made it clear that female actresses are given one fourth of their male co-actors and even if they want it, a female star can never earn as much as her male counterpart.
While there is so much ruckus on the fees of actresses, male actors never face it. They are called stars even after giving flop films because cinema is also male-dominated like our patriarchal society.
Many of his previous films were flop but still Shah Rukh Khan asked for a hefty fee of Rs 100 crore for his next film Pathan. Akshay Kumar charges 90-110 crores for a film, while Salman Khan earns at least 105 crores from every film. Ok, we can spare some of them as we know they have a huge fan base and were once superstars of cinema.
But even upcoming and new actors earn more than actresses. Ayushmann Khurrana’s fee is nearly 6-8 crores, Ranveer Singh charges 9-12 crores and just 9 films old Kartik Aaryan has earned 20 crores for his upcoming film Dhamaka.
When an actor can ask for so much money, why can’t a reputed actress ask for a fee she deserves? According to a 2017 survey, female actresses earn only 38% of actor.
Yes, earlier there was a time when films used to do business due to ‘hero’ and heroines had less role and part to play in movies. But now the whole scenario has changed. Now, There are many actresses who run films on their own, so what is wrong in asking for equal fees? But this might end only when the director will feel that his heroine deserves the same and when the audience will not go to watch the film only in the name of the male actor.
Gender Pay Gap is a global problem which has gripped every sector from cinema to the corporate world and it is not only in India but in the whole world. But for now, it will take, I don’t know how many more decades for Deepika Padukone to be as valued as much or more than Shah Rukh Khan.
Image source: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Instagram
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