Bhumi Pednekar, Huma Qureshi and Tamannaah Bhatia open up about the pay disparity in Bollywood

Global star Priyanka Chopra recently opened up about the pay disparity issue in Bollywood and mentioned how it took her 22 years to get paid as much as her male co-stars. Now, in a recent roundtable interview, Indian cinema’s leading ladies Bhumi Pednekar, Huma Qureshi, Tamannah Bhatia, Rakul Preet Singh and Alaya F addressed how pay disparity issue affects the careers of heroines.

Bhumi Pednekar said, 'I could have as many Rs 100 or 200 crore films as my male-costar. I may be appreciated for my work but it’s a norm that I will not be paid as close to what he is being paid. And it won’t change with us fighting. It has to happen from every aspect. The disparity was also in the west but the men there stood up for women. They said either they will take a pay cut or get them the same remuneration. And while I don’t want anyone to stand up for me, there has to be empathy. One needs to acknowledge the issue.'

Tamannah Bhatia also talked about the issue and said that Alia Bhatt's performance proved that female actors can also get numbers and the disparity is open and out in the film industry.

Rakul Preet mentioned that it's going to be a long route to get equal remuneration even when a female actor has equal input in the film.

Extending the point, Huma Qureshi said, 'But we should also understand that the males have created a market over years. We cannot pitch 10 female films with the 100s they have.'

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