The point people miss in these debates is the return on investment.
Bollywood isn't charity. It is a business. So, if Salman Khan is starring in a movie and say has the lead role. In a similar case, if Sonam Kapoor is in another movie in a lead role, do you think both of them deserve to be paid equally?
No? That's obvious, nah?
Salman Khan ensures a minimum return. Sonam Kapoor doesn't.
Then, we also have to factor the scale of the project. If the budget of the movie is 100 crores, the lead actor would obviously charge more than he would for a movie with a lesser budget. It's just a transaction.
Tomorrow, if there is a choice - in a dystopia - where producers could cast either Salman or Deepika in a role, but would have pay them 50 crores regardless of who it was. Who do you think is a safer bet? Who do you think will attract audiences? Who do you think will ensure that the movie is successful?
Unfortunately, for SJWs and keyboard warriors, this is something they prefer to ignore.
Film industry and sports are two areas where talent, reach, and branding are essential. Every football player will not get the same wages as Lionel Messi. Why? Should they ask for equal pay?
No again?
The reason is obvious.
The term here isn't equal pay but relative payment. It's not right for Salman to charge 80 crores whereas the female lead gets 4 crores. That would be ridiculous. But it does happen. How much do we suppose Jaquiline and Daisy were paid for Race 3?
Some actresses like Deepika and Katrina do receive significant amount and that has to do with their stardom and stature in the public's eyes. It's all about reach and branding.
For me, the issue isn't how much actors are paid or actresses must be paid equally.
The question is how much do writers, editors, cinematographers, etc. get in relation to the lead actor? Writers in India are notoriously underpaid. But nobody seems to be talking about that. Why?
If an actress is paid 8 crores for a movie, the writer of that movie would make 6-8 lakhs at most.
Why is that? And why is it that nobody is talking about it?
It's all framing and priming of agendas. A writer - who writes 5 successful movies - wouldn't even make as much as Jacqueline would by doing one single movie.
That's also why starkids all end up becoming actors. Because that's where the glamor and money is. Jhanvi has probably earned more doing Dhadak than Himanshu Sharma has writing Tanu Weds Manu series.
Forget about equal pay that stems from some social construct of gender balance; even merit doesn't get recognized in Bollywood. And it's not just India, although it's worse in India as compared to other cinematic cultures.
The real issues will never come out.
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