Sonam said that it does not make economic sense for the producer.
When after her Oscar win, actress Patricia Arquette said, "It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America," she became a mouthpiece of sorts for women in the entertainment industry the world over. In Bollywood too, actresses have been dissatisfied with their wages for years. In an interview to senior entertainment journalist Rajeev Masand, actress Deepika Padukone had said, "Girls should be paid more for the contribution that they make." (Also Read:
It's Time to have Wage Equality, Says Patricia Arquette)
Actress Sonam Kapoor, however, would like to differ. While she is all for the raise, the
Khoobsurat actress claims that it will never be the same unless and until films with a woman in the lead role start attracting the same kind of crowd that hero-based films do. She was speaking at the L'Oreal Femina Awards in Mumbai recently.
"It's mathematics really. There is something called a market price in our industry. It does not make economic sense for the producer to give me the same price as the lead actor of the same category. Say a Ranbir Kapoor film will open to Rs 10 crore on Friday, but my films will open significantly low. So it's important for the producer to earn the money invested. It makes mathematic sense," Sonam said.
And while there have been films like
Queen that had Kangana Ranaut in the lead,
Mary Kom that starred Priyanka Chopra and Sonam's
Khoobsurat, these movies are still few and far between. The number of hits may be an improvement on the past years but not big enough to eat into the figures that the Bollywood heroes enjoy.