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Do Bollywood heroines deserve equal pay as the heroes?
Actress Kareena Kapoor, while speaking on ‘How Does a Heroine Become the Hero?’ at the India Today Conclave 2012 recently, said she didn’t consider herself a hero because the people, who took home all the money for blockbusters like 3 Idiots, RA.One and Bodyguard, were the producers and the three Khans. The 31-year-old actress, who has reportedly demanded 80 million rupees for Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine, admitted that she is not paid at par with male actors and vowed to fight for equal pay cheques. In this male-dominated industry, Kareena is perhaps the only actress to voice her opinion openly about the disparity in pay. Sheopined that female actors are paid far less than their male counterparts for the same amount of work they do. While the Khans and Kapoors take home a huge packet, actresses have to stay content with their regular fees. Even the top heroines are paid much lesser than the least popular heroes. Dominance of men in almost every walk of life has been prevailing for ages now. And the entertainment industry is no exemption to this. In Bollywood, most of the films and stories are hero-centered. Producers argue that there are only four or five superstars who can guarantee returns. Bollywood considers the Khans as the safest bet because majority of their films succeed. “The Khans deserve what they are charging because when you cast them, there’s an assurance that you are going to get your money back,” filmmakers argue. Male actors get big-budget movies that earn at the box office while women aren’t given the same roles. Heroines are often characterized as glamour dolls and therefore producers are known to give second-hand treatment to actresses in terms of money. The fee of a heroine for a film is usually less than a quarter of the hero’s. Even an ageing Amitabh Bachchan earns more than a top actress in her twenties. Moreover, unlike their male co-stars, they do not get a share in profits. Most top heroines go by a fixed rate card. The world of sports is also not aloof from the disparity of payments to females. But Venus Williams showed how to change the practices. In 2007, she not just won the prestigious Wimbledon tournament fourth time, she also became the first woman to receive prize money equal to that of the male winner. Both Venus and the Wimbledon men’s winner took home about $1.4 million. It all started in 2006 when Venus Williams had written an article on equal pay in The Times (London), and the WTA and UNESCO had asked her to lead a campaign to promote gender equality in sports. Later, Wimbledon announced it would award equal prize money to all competitors. The French Open also awarded both its 2007 women’s and men’s champions the same financial prize. The same needs to be done with the film industry. Women today have proved their talents and have even outpaced men on various fronts, including acting, direction, screenwriting, film editing and other technical fields. Alike male actors, now heroines are also attending events and shows to promote their films. So when both are putting equal efforts, unequal pay structures are not justified. If a heroine can attract audiences on the basis of her charm and talent, she must know her worth and quote deserved price for her work. Producers can’t afford for too long to make films without top heroines and will soon come to terms. In any circumstances, a top heroine can’t be replaced with a B-Grade or C-Grade actress. People can digest watching their ageing superstar knocking down 20 goons at a time, but they would not tolerate watching him romancing a 40-plus heroine. The demand for young and talented actresses will always be there. Moreover, with The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, people have rubbished producers’ claims that the films with women in lead roles don’t work. Good content complimented by mind-blowing performances always produce best results. And such great performances require tremendous mental and physical energy, irrespective of the actor being a male or female. Therefore, it is unfair if the lead heroine is paid less than what a side actor gets. To claim rightful place in the industry, actresses must pursue the issue till they achieve the desired results. As Kareena Kapoor stated,” Vidya Balan’s success story has given actresses the hope for a brighter tomorrow in Bollywood. But they have a long way to go.” Thoughts?
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this picture is kareenas most flattering picture
actresses should at least get paid 50%...especially if their screen time and call dates are higher than another male coactor
nope. actors have more fans and have the larger hand in bringing audiences to see their films whereas the actresses only stand behind them and show skin. especially todays actresses dont deserve what they are getting. for me they r actually overpaid. especially Kareena and Katrina.
depends on the movie entirelly. a kareena asking for equal pay as a male actor for a film like RA one is just ridiculous. Because it is a well known fact actresses roles are flimsy as compared to the meaty roles male actors get in bollywood movies. They have more screen time and they have to 'act' (if that is what you can call some of their so called 2 expressions) in more scenes than actresses. people come to see the male actors, female actors are mostly mere props.
Now if vidya balan (or for that matter any other actress) asks for equal pay as an actor for a kahaani or a dirty picture, it is justified because she was equal to a male actor in terms of screen space. The entire movie was riding on her.
India needs to set up an equal pay commission to look into matters like these..Men get a percentage of profits, women get a fixed crores or two..
IT doesn't matter who acts well, its the effort the put into their films and how their movies are turning out in the box office. I think heroines should be getting a higher pay.
Yes yes yes,Bollywood heroines should be paid even more than the heros as heroines really act.Sridevi was the only actress who was paid more than the topmost heros as she had that power,but no one else is getting the same but today we have very good actresses like Rani Mukherjee,Kareena Kapoor,Aishwarya,Priyanka,etc.So they should be paid more than the heros.
Well actually, maybe the fairer question is why actors are being ridiculous amounts of money (30 crores WTF!!!) at all.
In Hollywood superstar male actors are paid much, MUCH more than the actresses. (45 million for top line actors such as Tom Cruise, 15-20 million for top lines actresses like Angelina Jolie)
This pay is in direct relation to how the market expects the film to work. For example, the amount of work Cruise will put into a film, physically and mentally, such as M14, is above and beyond what Paula Patton was expected to do in the film. Corrospondingly, they expect the movie to open big enough, based on his name to justify his paycheck. It is brand power. No body deserves to be paid 45 million.
Charlize Theron was once asked about the pay inequality in Hollywood. She (VERY RIGHTLY) said HOW could she complain about a freaken 8 MILLION DOLLAR paycheck when there are ppl around the world living on less than 2 dollars a day AFTER labouring all day at a workshop.
The system is wrong. Not in terms of gender inequality, but in terms of SOCIAL INEQUALITY.
Who else here gets paid 8 crore for 3 months worth of work (Kareena's sched for Heroine. She is not losing/gaining any weight/changing her appearance for the role. She is not devoting her life to the role the way Ranbir did for Rockstar. She is literally memorising lines and getting glammed up. How on earth does she justify her paycheck)
Although Vidya is a great actress and yes The Dirty Picture and Kahaani succeeded, I honestly think that audiences who went to watch TDP only went for its name and not for Vidya's acting. Kahaani also succeeded because Vidya was riding off the success of the Dirty Picture. I truly don't think it's equal just yet.
If I think any heroine-oriented film has succeeded without objectifying women it would probably be Priyanka Chopra's Fashion.
But yes, the top heroines deserve to have much higher pay than they currently yet. However, I don't think they should get as much as the Khans because if a film has the Khans it WILL be a hit. If a film has Kareena then it may or may not be a hit. I would say if the Khans got 50crores then the top heroines should get 40...until an actress can strengthen her fanbase and generate hit after hit without the Khans or Kapoors
I believe the Glam dolls like Katrina, Kareena, Bipasha, Deepika cannot get that much amount but yeh other actresses who can act well n hav performed challenging roles in Past can get more than actors !!
smitag,
Although I am also a software engineer and get equal pay with male colleagues, but it is different in the entertainment business . In software programming, client/ end user does not bother if a male or female who wrote the code, the software should work, that's it. That work can be done equally by male or female, hence they get equal pay.
In bollywood, the end user (public) DOES BOTHER if acting is done by a hero, or an heroine. People DONT go to watch women centric movies without a big hero. On the contrary, if it is a Khan movie, or has big heroes : Ajay Devgan, Hritik and even a newcomer heroine, it will be a big hit.
Pay should be based on the bucks you can bring, and I agree with the comment which says Katrina should be the most paid. Because even if she doesn't know the abc of acting, the fact is she brings huge moolah to producers. MKBD made around 80 crore. Just compare how much money similar rom-coms of Imran made :(EKAET : 40 crore, Break Kei Baad : 18 crore). Same for TMK, it made 70 crore only and only because of Sheila Katrina. All of Akshay's other movies : Patiala house, Blue etc etc flopped badly .
For Vidya : yes Kaahani is hit criticaly and commercially, but it cannot gross >40 crore . Her other low budget movie Ishquia made 22 crore.
any actress is better than Salman Khan's acting.....Therefore Yes, Bollywood Heroines should get paid equal.
ohh HELLLL NAAA! Women should be devoting most of the time in the kitchen...........j/k people, don't let your temper get on this comment......But yes, they should have equal pay. Then again, their getting paid up the ass, what difference does it make x_O
Fri, 2012-03-23 10:42 — Anonymous
Hello there, what negative planet are you from? You so filled with hatred, it so hard to get you back to earth. Hope to god, you are not a woman, if so, you need to send to the land of ignorance and timbuku. But if you must be a child with low esteem, your parents needs to whip your as* into shape.
No. If people like Kareena are considered top, they deserve nothing.
ya, but only for those who can act like, PC, Vidya, Rani, Kajol, Karishma.....
but actresses like, Aishwarya, Katrina, Kareena, Anushka, Deepika, Sonam.....SUCKS
Actresses I'd go watch movies of without even looking at the story, off the top of my head would be Rani, Anushka, Aishwarya, Kareena, and now Vidya. Maybe Priyanka as well. I know these women will pick substantial roles. I'd go watch Katrina's movie too but not when it's some mindless comedy with her playing a senseless glam doll in a small role.
How can you tell for sure if it's just the name of the actor (actor or actress) that pulled the audience. How does one measure why each person is in a theater? It's a combination of different aspects for me. I did not go watch Kahaani or TDP just for Vidya alone, but also the story, the director's take and what wanted to be showcased in the film. I am glad a wonderful actor like Vidya had this amazing sensibility to pick up such deep and riveting scripts. I think these areas are a lot more gray, and not black and white. I am all for getting fair salaries though. It's sad to see this disparity and if somewhere, things are unfair (based on whatever measurement system is in place) they need to fix it.
Great topic for debate:)
I think they deserve equal pay. I can see heroines work harder. they have so many more things to do. They need to dress well, attend so many events, photoshoots. Heroes are just there doing just movies...
I am a software engineer and I am sure i get paid equal to the males here. I think the same shud be for heroines. the pay shud be for their talent/efforts not just box office pull. Very soon we will reach a point where salman will be paid 80 crores and kareena will be still struggling to get a 8 crore pay check. This is no unfair...
Sallu took home 50 crores for Bodyguard. The highest ac actress has taken home for a film is 8 crores
Akshay Kumar is probably earning more then in the movie then all the girls combined in Housefull 2. Why? Because they're all easily replaceable props who have nothing better to do than to look pretty. But solid roles are still not enough.
Where's Rani? She worked with the Khans, then Bam kiss of death. Everyone knows she's a good actress and deserved a higher pay check but she was also easily replaceable. Probably because of the ageism of the audiences who cannot see women beyond objects.. Especially other women.
WELL SHE IS RYTE NOW IS THE HIGH TIME HERIOINES SHOULD B TREATED EQUAL TO HEROS
Actresses will never get paid as much as the Khans do. Even actors have a hard time getting paid what the Khans get paid. When any of the 3 Khans do movies, their movies explode the box office and end up taking home 20 to 30 crores, deservedly so. They have a big fanbases that go watch their movies no matter what. Unfortunetly, actresses don't have the fanbases or box office appeal the Khans have. I have to say, Kareena suprassed this though. She was paid 8 crore for heroine and Ranbir was paid 5 crores for his previous film. I say that's an improvement!
Actresses will never get paid as much as the Khans do. Even actors have a hard time getting paid what the Khans get paid. When any of the 3 Khans do movies, their movies explode the box office and end up taking home 20 to 30 crores, deservedly so. They have a big fanbases that go watch their movies no matter what. Unfortunetly, actresses don't have the fanbases or box office appeal the Khans have. I have to say, Kareena suprassed this though. She was paid 8 crore for heroine and Ranbir was paid 5 crores for his previous film. I say that's an improvement!
I mostly agree with Fri, 2012-03-23 12:42 — Anonymous.
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This is a business so women who can pull in comparable box office numbers should be paid the same as their male counterparts. Vidya and Katrina both deserve to be moved up the pay scale.
Actors in the film industry are generally paid based on the money they can generate not their acting skills. This is perfectly acceptable for films that are made for profit.
Films made for art should give more consideration to acting skills when setting the pay scales.
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If your name alone can make a movie a blockbuster, then you deserve to get paid accordingly - not just because you are a woman or the son of a big star etc. This is a business not charity.
Fri, 2012-03-23 12:41 - this argument would work bad for kareena than any one else
because for a long time she was delivering duds after duds yet increasing her price based on her surname alone!
can priyanka really act??? I am serously concerned about this issue like some people constantly telling Priyanka and Vidya lol I cant stop laughing seriously ...I would say Priyanka is not spontanoeus at all she is not natural actor even in 7KM she was so artificial lol
I think what's important is the value of a certain actor to a project, regardless of their gender. Does a Kareena Kapoor deserve more than an Imran Khan or an Arjun Rampal? Heck yes, she brings much more value to the project than they do. Is she going to be paid as much as a Khan? No, because she is not as bankable as they are. There are actresses in Hollywood who take home as much money as the actors - Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, etc. - because they can carry a movie past $100 million by themselves. This doesn't work in the same way in Bollywood because a) rom-coms, which are the bread-and-butter of most top Hollywood actresses (the exception being Jolie) are not as profitable in India (and neither are female-driven action films, based on which Jolie became a superstar), and b) there are barely any actresses who can attract an audience to the theatre based solely on their presence. Right now, the two are Katrina (say what you will about her questionable acting skills, MBKD's box-office run and TMK's opening can be credited almost entirely to her) and Vidya Balan (in a tightly budgeted film; Vidya should actually demand a cut of the profits instead of inflating her asking price so that budgets remain low and she is paid what she is worth). It must be noted that these are also the two actresses who make the biggest push when it comes to marketing their films. If Katrina actually starts taking a producing credit on her films as she has indicated she might, and Vidya starts proft-sharing on her films, the two can advance the cause of female actors in the industry.
Do you guys know that even Abhishek Bacchan gets a few crores, even though he can't carry a movie on his shoulders at all? It was reported in a newspaper that he let go an amount of 2.5 crores for Players as the movie did not do well?? Shouldn't he rpay back most of his producers then..... does he even deserve 50 lakhs.. NO!!!!!!
The problem is when it comes down to the money, actors have a larger fan base and people expect them to carry a movie on their shoulders, so they're paid more.
However, I do feel performance oriented roles such as PC in 7 Khoon Maaf, Vidya in Kahaani and Bebo inHeroine deserve more as the fate of the film relies on them, and they MAKE the movie