Vidya Balan admits Bollywood favours male actors with fat salaries

Playing a loveable sleuth in her latest ‘Bobby Jasoos’, actress Vidya Balan says there are no dark secrets in Bollywood over differences in the remuneration packages of male and female celebs in Indian cinema.

Speaking up in a film industry that still favours the stereotypical male hero, when posed the question whether actresses such as herself faced a glass ceiling in terms of starry salaries, Balan told Emirates 24|7: “Most definitely. It is finally a business and the returns in films have to become bigger so people can invest more and allow the industry to grow.”

Pic: Sanskriti Media and Entertainment

Balan’s surprisingly honest statement during the press event of her latest film in Dubai comes hot on the heels of another much publicised response by actress Kareena Kapoor who was quoted in the media last week as one of the few leading ladies in Bollywood who was “paid very well.”

Speaking to media at a press event for her upcoming ‘Singham 2’, Kapoor said: “I get paid very well and I have no complaints. If it’s a big budget film, they can afford and what works for another actress might not work for somebody else.”

 

Kapoor also brought up Balan’s National Award winning feat in ‘The Dirty Picture’ saying: “I feel each and every actor is different. For example, I can never do ‘The Dirty Picture’. I don’t have that courage and boldness but for me it’s a challenge to be a part of ‘Golmaal 3’ and still have a great role.”

The 36-year-old Balan drew reference to ‘Bobby Jasoos’, a female-centric film that sees her play the protagonist, saying: “I am grateful to Reliance [producers] to have faith in such a film. It is a great time for female actors who want to do something and not just play it safe.”

She continued: “I think 95 per cent of the films today still play it safe as a representation of women. There is a lot exciting work in terms of script and directors.

“I guess I want to say is that it’s a potent time for actors and I am experiencing that potency and milking it for all its worth. However, I can talk for myself that I am greedy for such roles.”

Balan and Kapoor are counted as few of the top leading ladies in Bollywood today who can command a starry salary north of Dh4m, each of whom have proved their mettle in female-centric films, be it the former with ‘Kahaani’ and ‘The Dirty Picture’, while the latter ‘Heroine’ and ‘Chameli’.

However, the actress riding high on the pay scale these days is Deepika Padukone, who, after five back-to-back hits last year, was snapped up by director Sanjay Leela Bhansali once again for ‘Bajirao Mastani’ with a salary of Dh5m according to media reports.

Pic: AFP

Kangana Ranaut, who is counted as an A-lister in Bollywood today after the success of ‘Queen’, said: “I am a realist and I accept that it is a male dominated society in Bollywood even today. But in our own little ways, people like Vidya and possibly myself, are breaking this chauvinist attitude and allowing our work to speak for itself.

“I am confident that we will be paid our worth accordingly.”

‘Bobby Jasoos’ is currently playing in UAE cinemas.

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