Many actresses have spoken about the income disparity in Bollywood, Priyanka Chopra has been one of the most vocal ones out of the lot. In an interview to DNA, Priyanka opened up on this subject which is rather close to her, she even revealed that this is what Deepika Padukone and she would often discuss on the sets of Bajirao Mastani.
Deepika and I were talking about how there’s a huge disparity between men and women. Not just here, but globally, it’s not just in this business, but in any job of authority. Male CEOs get paid a lot more than female CEOs. So to be taken seriously as women, it’ll be a battle that lasts a long time. I think I always have that kind of attitude and believe Deepika has that attitude as well. People keep making fun of us on the sets, calling it our ‘big talk’.
The actress who is now kicking ass in the West with her show Quantico, elaborated on how initially, this evident difference was not something she was used to. PC also spoke about how producers believed that actresses were interchangeable!
I have had a point of view on this since the time I joined movies. I came from a very academic background. So I didn’t initially understand the disparity between men and women so much. In my first few films, once I was told by my producer that girls are interchangeable. Hero nahi change kar sakte, but agar aapki dates match nahi kar rahi ya aap ek certain remuneration maang rahe ho, toh aap jao. Hum nayi ladki launch kar denge.
Priyanka is realistic enough to believe that things won’t change overnight and it’ll take a while for the concept of equality to set in, but she believes in her contemporaries and is glad that they all support this cause.
I am not asking for equality. I really want there to be relevance to girls in the movie business. I am not saying treat us equally, because it’s a long way to go for India as a nation as well. But give some relevance to our minds, opinions as talents or actors. I am really happy to see all the actresses today coming together to support this cause. Whether it’s Vidya, Deepika, me, Kangana, Anushka, we sort of come together on this relevance issue, contrary to what people believe about us actresses. I think if we stand by each other, change will definitely happen.
*Round of applause*