Recently, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta Bhupati spoke about the disparity in the pay scales of heroines as compared to their male counterparts. Priyanka has been vocal on this subject even in the past, and in a recent interview, she once again touched upon it and said, “It is such an important conversation. It took me 22 years to be able to get paid the same amount as my male co-actor. There are so many CEO friends of mine that get paid 1/4th of what their (male) predecessors get.”

Lara, too, highlighted the fact that one of the biggest challenges women still face today in the industry is pay disparity. She stressed upon the point that women work equally hard, if not harder than most of their male counterparts, but probably get paid one-tenth of what the actor earns.

While talking to Bombay Times recently, Sushmita Sen, too, who is doing interesting work in the digital space, shared her thoughts on this. “The issue of pay disparity has been there forever. However, with my experience in the digital space, I can say that the numbers are huge (in this medium) for women, at least, it is for me. I think it also reaches a point where you have to know your worth and you have to be unapologetic about asking for it. So, I say ‘no’ more than I say ‘yes’. But when I say ‘yes’ I am the most hardworking person you will find on a set. But I don’t say ‘yes’ easily,” said the actress who headlined the web series Aarya.

Sushmita, further explained how she is seeing a change in the industry, even though it’s a slow process. “I am telling you from my own experience. There is a change. Is there a disparity? Yes, there is. It is a long-standing disparity. But is it changing? Yes, but gradually. It will take generations of actresses putting their foot down and saying, ‘You know what, why are you not talking to me about having a share in the territory or profit share in a film?’ to see the change we want. When we start asking and say that we won’t settle for less, is when change will come about. It’s very hard to say ‘no’, but when you start doing that is when things will turn around,” she said.

Recalling the times when she started off in the industry, the actress who made her debut in 1996 with Dastak, and was seen in films like Biwi No. 1, Vaastu Shastra and Main Hoon Na, says, “Without a doubt, much has changed in the way the industry functions. Earlier, we used to get approached saying, ‘You have three songs, you will be dressed by this designer, you will have one conflicting emotional breakdown in the movie, a good lead actor and a good director. We were also told that film mein budget nahi hai. This used to be the case back then, but it isn’t the same now, so things are certainly changing.”