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Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; June 10, 2016)

Kangana Ranaut shocked everyone in the industry when she called herself the third hero in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon starring Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. The comment seems to have amused Shahid, who now has a reply to her cocky statement.

Hero, heroine... same thing
Ask him about Kangana’s statement and he sounds irritated. “Why doesn’t she say there are three heroines in the film? Is there anything less in being a heroine? There are three protagonists in the film and for me, being a hero or a heroine doesn’t make any difference. So, if saying that you being a hero makes you a bigger person, I don’t agree with that thought process.”

Parity depends on saleability
Kangana also grabbed headlines for claiming that that she’s the highest paid actress in Bollywood and for Rangoon, she got the same fee as Saif and Shahid. Talking about the outrage over pay disparity, Shahid says, “Pay parity depends on the saleability of a particular person. I can also sit and cry that I am getting less money than other male actors.”

Shahid adds, “I can’t complain about my pay and I know that. That’s because my films sell for a certain amount of money whereas other actors sell for a different amount. Obviously that should not be the case and the audience should view a film for its content, regardless of whether it is female-driven or male-driven. Unless that happens, you are paid for your viability. But if somebody is getting paid less than what they deserve, based on their commercial viability, that can be a problem.”

Touché!