Kriti Sanon questioned why some of her male stars get paid 10 times more than what she or other actresses get.
Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon has completed ten years in the industry. She has delivered several hit films such as 'Bareilly Ki Barfi', 'Luka Chuppi' and 'Mimi', among others. 'Mimi' earned her the National Film Award for Best Actress. She was last seen in 'Crew' with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Tabu. The film was a huge box-office success. In an interview, Kriti opened up about one of the most-talked about topics in Bollywood- the gender pay gap.
In an interview with Film Companion, Kriti opined on the pay parity and questioned why some of her male co-stars get paid 10 times more than what she or other actresses get.
She said, ''The difference in payment (between male actors' and female actors') currently is huge for actually no reason. Sometimes, for no reason. Sometimes, you feel like it's not like that person has given a hit in 10 years, then why is he getting paid 10 times''.
The 'Adipurush' actress also said that even producers justify the pay gap. She added, “A lot of the times, what the producers say is, recovery. The recovery happens with digital and satellite, which sort of happens before a film is released. Before the word kind of takes off. So to get that kind of budget from digital and satellite – because on digital and satellite, the male-centric films actually do very, very well as compared to a film on a girl. I think there's the difference''.
Kriti also revealed that producers weren't willing to invest the same money in 'Crew' which has three top actresses, as they would spend in a similar entertaining comedy with three male actors. She also claimed that this hasn't changed in the six years since Rhea Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor, the producers of 'Crew', backed 'Veere Di Wedding'. Actresses like Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor had to accept pay cuts keeping in mind the budget of the film.
On the work front, Kriti has 'Do Patti' alongside Kajol. It marks Kriti's debut as a producer under her banner Blue Butterfly Films. The thriller will stream on Netflix.