‘Half Of The Leading Hero’s Salary Is The Entire Budget Of A Female-Driven Film’

Taapsee Pannu, who often expresses her views about gender pay gap in Bollywood, claimed that “half of the salary” of a leading hero is the “entire budget of a female-driven film of an A-list actress,” reported news agency IANS. The Pink actress, during her interaction with media at the 50th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, stated that the money the actresses get in Bollywood are “not even half of what the leading men get paid.” She said: “It is way less than one-fourth at times – to be honest, even less. Half of the salary of the leading hero is the entire budget of a female-driven film of an A-list actress… We have a long way to go. It is insane,” Taapsee was quoted as saying by IANS.

Taapsee, who has worked in critically acclaimed films such as Badla, Baby and Saand Ki Aankh, said that the box office success of female-driven films is the only way to end the gender pay gap in the film industry. “I hope it changes in my lifetime. That can happen when more and more people walk into a female-driven film in theatres. Only box-office can change this. Yes, women-driven films have increased drastically over the last four to five years but the big difference will happen when the (box-office) numbers come in. There is no other way,” she said, reported IANS.

Taapsee Pannu, who made her acting debut with the 2010 Telugu film Jhummandi Naadam, is known for her brilliant performances in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films such as Aadukalam, Vastadu Naa Raju, Mr. Perfect, Arrambam, Pink, Game Over, Naam Shabana, Mulk and Mission Mangal.

Earlier, in an interview with mid-day, Taapsee stated that her renumeration has ‘skyrocketed in the last two years’ but it is still nowhere near what her “male counterparts” get. “In the last two years, my remuneration has skyrocketed, although the figure is still far off from (what) my male counterparts (earn),” the actress told the publication.

On the work front, Taapsee Pannu was last seen in Prakash Jha’s Saand Ki Aankh, in which she co-starred with Bhumi Pednekar. The film is based on the lives of “Shooter Dadis”- Chandro Tomar (86) and Prakashi Tomar (82).

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