New Delhi: There's been a lot of talk lately about the gender pay disparity in Bollywood. The top male stars earn far more than the top female stars. This was highlighted by the recent Forbes lists of highest paid actors and actresses in the world. Three Indians actors - Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar - cracked the top 10. But Indian actresses were conspicuous by their absence from the list.
Kangana Ranaut is believed to be the highest paid actress in Bollywood right now, earning Rs 11 crore per film. But that is only a fraction of what Salman Khan earns.
Salman has now waded into the debate in his own inimitable style. The Bajrangi Bhaijaan star rubbished claims that the top Bollywood actresses need to be paid more. He pointed out that pay is not dependent on gender but on pulling power at the box office.
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“The question is, who is pulling those people into a theatre? If a female star is getting those many people and the producer is making money, the exhibitor and distributor are all making money, then obviously they (female actors) will get that much money... but if it's a male star, then he will get it," he reportedly told a leading national daily.
Salman also poked more holes in the theory that female stars are underpaid by noting that they are already paid more than many male stars.
“There are so many male stars who get a lot less than many female stars... there are male stars in the Rs 1 to 3 crore bracket, and there are lots of female stars in the Rs 5 to 7 crore bracket... that's also there, right? Uske bare mein koi kyun nahi bolta? So this whole female stars-male stars debate is bulls**t. Whoever is selling, and as much he or she is selling, will get that much,” he said.
The ball is now in the court of the actresses. Let's see how they react to this blistering shot by Salman!
