Actor says gender pay disparity argument suggesting films sell owing to men holds little merit today when Alia and Kareena’s movies have breached Rs 100 crore mark
MID-DAY (February 21, 2019)

Women-driven Bollywood films raking in money at the box-office has become commonplace, suggest Pooja Hegde, when asserting that it is time for women to get paid as much as their male counterparts.

Pointing out to the pitiable state in the industry that sees women not being compensated enough, even though they toil as much as men, Hegde says argument that male actors are the ones bringing in the money has little merit today. “If you look at the trend, female-driven films are doing very well,” Hegde says, citing examples of Alia Bhatt-starrer Raazi and Kareena Kapoor and Sonam K Ahuja’s Veere Di Wedding.

“[Female-driven films] are doing well. I hope that since women are also pulling in Rs 100 crore with their films, they get paid as much as the men. We also need more female producers to help us out. [There must] be collective effort [to achieve wage parity],” she says, adding that producers are gradually noticing that women-led films are also bankable.

Raazi’s box-office collection stands at an approximate Rs 200 crore, while that of Veere Di Wedding is approximately Rs 139 crore. Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi also breached the Rs 100 crore mark days ago.

Meanwhile, Hegde is set to try her hand at comedy with the Akshay Kumar starrer Housefull 4. She is also filming for the Telugu offering, Maharshi, with Mahesh Babu. The film eyes an April release. “This is [the] year of my career. If you are talented, with a bit of luck, you can reach further.”