Alia Bhatt: Not delusional that the number of viewers who watch Varun Dhawan’s movies will come to see my work

Alia Bhatt spoke candidly about pay parity in an interview by taking Varun Dhawan's example. The actress shared that since Varun has a wider reach than her, she cannot expect the same amount of money to be invested in her solo-starrers, like in his.

Updated on Jul 05, 2018 | 11:33 AM IST | 8.4M

It may only have been six years since Alia Bhatt made her Bollywood debut but the actress has already proved her acting mettle in movies like Highway, Udta Punjab, with the recent one being Raazi, which she shouldered herself. The movie turned out to not only be a critically acclaimed film but a box-office hit (crossed Rs 100 crore mark at the domestic box-office) as well.

When DNA quizzed Alia about competition with the current crop of leading ladies, the actress stated that she is not competing with anyone else. She also shared that the minute you start believing that you deserve all this then there's a problem.

Pay parity in Bollywood has been a topic of wide discussion with Sonam Kapoor going on the record about how her movie Veere Di Wedding wasn't issued a huge budget like Dishoom (starring Varun Dhawan and John Abraham). When Alia was asked about pay parity, the actress took Varun's example and said, "Investing money in a film is directly co-related to the people you are bringing to the theatre. I’m not delusional that the same number of viewers who go to watch Varun’s movies will come to see my work. He has a wider reach than me. That’s why I can’t expect that the same amount of money, which is invested in his solo-starrers, is invested in mine, too. Also, it’s the subject that makes a film viable. We can’t be categorical about everything because every actor and movie is different."

Finally when DNA quizzed Alia on whether she will be willing to slash her fees for a movie she wants to be a part of, the actress revealed, "Never say never, but I won’t let go of a movie that I like because of remuneration. I’ll find a way around it. I’ll still do it because the emotional attachment to my work is way more than the monetary one."