Two decades on, actor Shriya Saran still hesitates to ask for the fees she thinks she deserves. She admits that the gender pay gap is a reality that will continue to plague the industry for long.

“It’ll take some time to happen in the Hindi film industry. The pay [gap] is real, except maybe for someone like (actor) Priyanka Chopra Jonas,” she says, adding, “At the end of the day, you have to get up and go to work. Nothing will change so soon. The reality is that the hero always takes home more money, no matter what the length of his role was.”

At the same time, the RRR (2022) and Drishyam actor stresses that the system “is changing because of all the conversations” and growing awareness around it. “Having a dialogue is important. One must be hopeful and take heart in the fact that things are changing slowly,” the 40-year-old says.

“The more content-driven cinema we have, the more potential there is for content to become the main hero. Then, we need to back it up with strong female performances. And there is no dearth of strong women performers in India. When they start taking control of things — which they are gradually — things will shift and pay parity will become a reality,” Saran elaborates.

Despite the surge in strong stories and characters based around women across formats, Saran wants to see more women in non-acting roles, too. “It’ll truly be a female-driven industry when the people who are taking the money back home are women, and not just in front of the camera but behind it, too,” she wraps up.