The recently concluded FICCI Frames 2023 gave a platform to prominent personalities from the entertainment industry to voice their opinions and share their views on various subjects pertaining to showbiz. During a session titled ‘Bold Vision And Brave Actions: Women In Filmmaking’, Rakul Preet Singh expressed her thoughts on the much discussed and debated topic of pay parity in the movie industry. 

Recently, Priyanka Chopra Jonas revealed that she received equal pay for the first time in her 22-year-old career for Citadel. In an interview, PC said, “I also didn’t expect it, when my agents told me, ‘You’re playing a co-lead, let us go and talk to them about getting you parity’, I was like, ‘Okay, you can try, but it’s never going to happen’. Even I didn’t believe it.”

Reacting to that statement, Rakul, who has worked across film industries, said, “Priyanka is a global icon today. She is someone who has the ability to pull the audience to the theatres. What I think is that your pay needs to be decided on the basis of how much crowd you can pull to the theatres as opposed to what gender you are. If we stop questioning and having conversations on pay parity based on man or woman, then the scenario will change. What’s important is whether your content is good. Is the audience excited to see your film? Whether you are a male actor, a female actor or a character actor, if you are attracting the audience to the theatres, you should be paid something that’s proportional to that. It should not be on the basis of your gender.”