Vidya Balan Has No Clue About The Pay Disparity In Bollywood

Vidya Balan opened up about the pay disparity in Bollywood. The Bollywood actor was part of a roundtable discussion when the topic of pay parity in Bollywood (female actors getting paid less than their male counterparts) was raised. The 'Sherni' star responded by saying she is happy with what she is being paid in the context of her films.

In the roundtable discussion conducted by a leading media house, Vidya was joined by actors Mrunal Thakur, Nimrat Kaur and Huma Qureshi.

Commenting on the issue of pay parity, Vidya said, "I don't know about pay parity because I am not doing films alongside the 'big heroes'. I think that's where it comes into play. But if you had to compare the overall percentage of what I get paid within the budget of a film to what a hero gets paid, I think the percentage is the same. Now their films cost 10 times more than what my films do, so obviously I am getting paid ten times less. But, within my construct, I am happy."

This is not the first time Vidya has commented on the topic. Earlier, she acknowledged that there exists a significant salary gap between male actors and female actors in Bollywood. But she is confident that this gap will close with time and would rather concentrate on how far the actors have come to address it.

Vidya's response was lauded by actor Nimrat Kaur in the same video, who said, "That's a very healthy way of looking at it." Nimrat also commented further on the topic, saying that what an actor is paid is directly proportional to the number of people they are going to bring to the film.

Meanwhile, Mrunal added that she is really happy with what she is getting paid and makes her stance clear whenever there is a conversation about it.

Vidya was last seen in Suresh Triveni's 'Jalsa' where she played a journalist. The film also starred Shefali Shah and Manav Kaul. She will be next seen opposite 'Scam 1992' star Pratik Gandhi in an untitled film, which also stars Ileana D'cruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy.