If you happen to follow entertainment news closely, you must be aware of the recent hike in actress Deepika Padukone’s fees.
The ‘Bajirao Mastani’ star is reportedly charging a whooping Rs 10 crore for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next project ‘Padmavati’. And with this Deepika became the highest paid actress in Bollywood.
However, if we look at the bigger perspective, the Rs 10 crore deal is not at all a golden strike for Deepika Padukone, who is a top-notch actress in the Hindi film industry at present.
The latest reports in media suggest that Deepika was actually eyeing for sharing of profits in SLB’s directorial but later settled for Rs 10 crore.
Reason? Well because the industry is not ready to welcome the idea of sharing the profits with a female star.
An entertainment portal reported the story while quoting a source, who said, "Let me tell you Deepika got that amount for Padmavati because the makers didn’t want to pay her a percentage of the film’s profits that she demanded. She may be in the position to demand but the industry doesn’t believe in giving a share in profits to the ladies, only the male actors get that. Dips was paid 8 crores for Piku, plus a fraction of the profit. She asked for the same for Padmavati. She was denied a share in the profits and offered 10 crores flat, which she agreed to".
Notably, all top actors in Bollywood work on profit sharing module be it Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar or Aamir Khan.
Though, unfortunately, the same structure has not been developed for the female actresses in the industry.
Deepika apparently broke the trend when she managed to bag share of profits (even if it was a fraction) for ‘Piku’ but with ‘Padmavati’, things are back to square one.
Notably, the issue of unequal pay in Bollywood is not a new one. Several actresses, time and again, have raised their voices regarding the huge difference in the money doled out to male actors as compared to female leads.
