After Delivering Hits Like ‘Pathaan’, Actresses Can Demand Pay Parity: Kajol

News Desk

Islamabad: Kajol Devgan, a Bollywood actor with a three-decade career, has emphasized the importance of significant representation of women in key roles before achieving true wage equality.

Speaking at the Jagran Film Festival in Delhi, the 49-year-old actor spoke out on the critical problem of pay equality in the Hindi film business.

When asked about pay parity in Bollywood, she stated that these questions should be raised only after India begins producing large-scale female-led films, such as Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Pathaan’ which became the highest domestic grosser in Bollywood history, earning more than INR5.43 billion in India.

When you do a ‘Wonder Woman’ for India and it does as well as ‘Pathaan’, then maybe there will be wage equality, Kajol opined. She also discussed the relationship between box office performance and women’s pay equality.

"Female actors in Bollywood can ask for pay parity after they deliver a film like Shah Rukh Khan ’s Pathaan ." – Kajol at Jagran Film Festival 2023 . #Jawan pic.twitter.com/SR9uZqzEV9

— ℣αɱριя౯ (@SRKsCombatant) August 5, 2023

However, Kajol’s thoughts on pay disparity come at a time when the industry is battling with gender pay gaps, which have long been a source of concern for female actresses. Other Bollywood actors have pushed for pay equality in the past, contrary to her views on when women should discuss it.

Priyanka Chopra has already spoken out against pay disparities. She stated that it wasn’t until her role in the Prime Video project ‘Citadel’ that she was paid the same as her male co-star, Richard Madden. Deepika Padukone, too, had to deal with income disparities based on gender.

During a candid podcast interview, Bollywood icon Jaya Bachchan also weighed in on the subject. Jaya blamed male insecurities for the gender pay disparity.

Mrs. Bachchan claimed that male-dominated views frequently lead to “attempts to belittle and marginalize women in various fields”.