Breaking the silence on pay parity Sandalwood, actor Aindrita Ray has lambasted the industry for its treatment of women actors.
Earlier this week, Aindrita candidly replied to questions on the huge disparity in remuneration between male and female co-stars during the press meet of her film Nirutarra, produced by actor Bhavana and directed by Apoorva Kasaravalli.
“What we are paid is not even five percent of what the male leads are getting.” She said she could not longer be silent as her fans have been questioning her absence from the scene.
In the past, it was only actor Ramya, who spoke about the industry’s treatment of women. She reportedly walked out of ‘Dodmane Huduga’ starring Puneeth Rajkumar because of the disparity in pay.
Reacting to her comments, film producer Krishna Chaitanya, says, “The pay is decided on the basis of the roles accorded. I would pay a female lead more than her male counterpart if her character is of prime importance to the story.”
He is of the view that the ‘crowd pulling’ for male stars has been more over the years however movies like ‘Arundhati’ in Tollywood work well and there is a good viewership for female oriented movies.
Other actors have joined in the chorus. Ragini Dwivedi, of Aarakshaka and Shiva fame, dissects this logic.
“The difference in remuneration has always existed as the male lead bears the onus of the film’s success, since the storyline predominantly revolves around the hero. However, trends are changing and the viewers are demanding to watch script oriented movies. So there isn’t any reason that women can’t assume important characters. The industry is not concerned with the difference between man or woman but with the intricacies of the characters built. Besides, producers must understand that a film won’t work without either the actor or actress’ contribution.”
Upcoming Kannada actress, Aishani Shetty states, “Actresses aren’t paid more or as much as their male counterparts for portraying the role of the protagonist and that must change as actresses put in as much efforts as any other person in the industry.” However, she hasn't come across discrimination in terms of the treatment received by the production teams.