Kriti Sanon Speaks On Pay Disparity, Says Producers Fear Investing Big In Female-Led Bollywood Films(Photo Credit –Facebook)
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Kriti Sanon is one of the finest actresses in Bollywood. Over the 14 years of her illustrious career, she has achieved a significant milestone. She was recently announced as UNFPA India’s honorary ambassador of Gender Equality. In her role, her purpose is to raise conversations about gender pay gaps and break stereotypes. Let’s revisit the time when Kriti Sanon reflected on pay disparity in Bollywood.
Kriti Sanon On Pay Disparity In Bollywood
While speaking to CNN-News 18 SheShakti Delhi Edition, Kriti Sanon addressed the ongoing issue of pay disparity in Hindi cinema. The Do Patti star shared, “Actually, considering all the other industries, I don’t understand why the pay parity is there. Because for certain kinds of roles, certain kinds of jobs, whether you are a male or a female, it shouldn’t matter, and the pay should be the same. In the films, yes, we’ve been having these conversations for a very, very long time, and trust me, it pinches us more than anyone else.”
Kriti Sanon Feels Producers Are Scared To Give Female-Led Big Budgets
“There is a huge gap in the payment for male and female actors. But I think it’s a circle because I feel that the fee of any actor sort of relates to how many audiences you can pull into a theatre from your name on Day 1. Unfortunately, there are very few films that are, much fewer films I would say that are led by women than men. Even if it’s a film led by a woman, I feel it’s not scaled at the same budget as a film that is led by man would be. But that’s also because producers are scared that they are not going to get as much money back. So, I think it’s a circle where female-led films don’t end up making as much money as male-led films, and then it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s why his fees are more or her fees are less,’” Kriti added.
The National Award Winner actress continued, “So, I feel like it’s changing slowly. I like the fact that the films working is no longer dependent on male or female; it’s dependent on content. When a film led by three women, Crew, ended up working and entertaining the audience, it gave me hope; it felt like when it’s a female-led film, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a serious subject. You can also have fun; you can also entertain people. You can also have these big locations and have the budget, and I feel things will change only when some people, the producers obviously, have the heart to take that risk. Take risks on the subject, not who is leading it.”
Kriti Sanon Highlighted The Example Of Gangubai Kathiawadi
Emphasizing the example of Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi, Kriti Sanon concluded the chat by saying, “The only film that comes to my mind that has been at that scale, at that budget, was Gangubai Kathaiwadi, where you felt like it was larger than life. It would have been the same-looking film if it was a guy leading it. And I feel it was like hyped, big budget, the shots were taken in a larger-than-life way. When someone is entering, we call it a ‘hero shot’, when you make someone look larger than life. That doesn’t happen normally when a female is leading a film like that. So, I was very happy to see that at least someone has the guts to put in that much money on a female-led film, and it did well. So, I feel like when there are more producers putting that much money on a female-led film, be confident of the content, and it will get the money back and things will change then. So, it’s a slow process, but it’s possible.”
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