She might be just a few films old but she has managed to establish a firm foot in Bollywood. Taapsee Pannu has proved that she is indispensable. With versatile projects, she has time and again taken risks that have mostly proved fruitful.?
But how does it feel to be an actor in an industry that still is male-dominated? Taapsee Pannu appeared on podcast No Filter Neha and just like always, she was candid.
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From talking about pay gap and not being credited enough for her work, Taapsee Pannu made some striking revelations.?
Viral Bhayani
She claimed she has been paid mere 5 to 10% of what the male lead in the same film would have got. Even though she headlined a few big projects, she added that pay disparity bothered her. She said,
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¡°Of course it does! When I¡¯m paid only 5% to 10% of my heroes, of course it bothers me. The success at the box office will make sure the next film I get paid a lot which is slowly moving towards equalizing that difference. Rules are quite unfair, not just in our industry but maybe in every other industry. Because we are here, we see it more. But rules are different everywhere. And that¡¯s what the fight is for, that¡¯s what the struggle is right now, the whole issue of gender equality is that let¡¯s make the rules equal. I¡¯m not asking for an edge over them, I¡¯m asking for equality.¡±?
She also added that with Saand Ki Aankh, a project that was led by her and Bhumi Pednekar, may change things for her. She said,
¡°I¡¯m hoping with Saand Ki Aankh and the response we are getting, it¡¯s a step closer to that equality in one way or the other. For example, we never had a big female led Diwali release, I don¡¯t know when did it happen last, it was always reserved for big heroes, the clash happened between two heroes."
She also added that doing a female-led film is easy but strategizing the release date is where the trouble begins. She added,
"You know, when we see a calendar and we decide a release date for a female led film, we have to settle with leftovers, I¡¯m not even kidding when I¡¯m telling you that because I¡¯ve done so many of them. We just sit on the calendar and we figure out, accha yeh din ke baad, yeh week khali pada hai, yahan pe kar lete hai. It actually happens like that, which is so disheartening because we also put equal amount of effort if not more and our stories are also beautiful so why not get an equal chance? Just because it¡¯s a female led film? Is that reason enough for you to not come on a big date? Diwali we celebrate Laxmi and you know all the goddesses that we pray to, high time someone takes the step. Maybe I win, maybe I lose, but at least I will take one step to see if I can make the difference."
She went on to add that with a film like Badla where she had more scenes than Amitabh Bachchan, it was still called his film. She added,
¡°Even when I do films like Badla, I had more working days or scenes so to say than Mr. Bachchan. He was the hero of the film, I was the antagonist. But the antagonist has more presence in the film than the protagonist. But eventually the film releases, they call it an Amitabh Bachchan film. Yes, when I raise my voice and say I¡¯ve done almost equal if not more, that¡¯s when people recognised and started taking my name because it¡¯s such a male dominated industry, they don¡¯t even realise that I might have done more work actually. It was called Sir¡¯s film, it won¡¯t be called a female film regardless of the fact that I have more scenes, it will be called an Amitabh Bachchan film and the credit will go there."
Talking about industry's biased attitude based on gender of the actor, she said,
"It hurts me to see this disparity but I¡¯m not going to be unreasonable and ask for an equal amount of money right away, I would rather wait and do things to equalize the box office and then expect them to pay me and honestly, they will. They are happily paying me because I am sensibly raising it, not just wanting to equalise it right away but balancing it with my box office success."
Taapsee, known for incredible films such as Pink, Mulk and Badla, will next be seen in Thappad, which is an ode to India women and explores gender dynamics in relationships. With Thappad, she reunites with her Mulk director Anubhav Sinha.?