Why Alia Bhatt should get paid as much as Varun Dhawan?

Actresses in the Hindi film industry have more often than not been getting wages that are far less than their male counterparts. Back in the day, stars like Sadhana and Hema Malini got paid better than many of their male co-stars, but they were more the exception than the rule.

The current-day situation is not any different. The odd Deepika Padukone or Kangana Ranaut do command as much as their male colleagues, but again they are still the exceptions, not the rule.

Coming to the most recent example of Alia Bhatt. Her spy-drama Raazi crossed the Rs 100 cr mark with aplomb and of course, this is no flash in the pan. Alia has been super-successful several times over. She has had big hits in 2 States (2014), Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014), Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017) and has won favourable notices in Udta Punjab (2016) and Highway (2014).

But no one is even getting perturbed by the fact that this diminutive bundle of dynamite has so far been getting paid far less than many of her male co-actors.

Rumour has it that Amitabh Bachchan reportedly got paid Rs 7 cr for 102 Not Out, John Abraham allegedly got paid Rs 11 cr for Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran and Varun Dhawan apparently took a concessional price of Rs 5 cr for October.

Alia's remuneration for Raazi is definitely less than what these men got paid. And her own draw at the box office seems to be bigger than that of John, Varun or for that matter Amitabh Bachchan.

Let's assess the box office

As we said earlier, Raazi has earned Rs 113.64 cr until Sunday (June 3). Parmanu reportedly collected Rs 45 cr, 102 Not Out collected Rs 50 cr in four weeks and October has a lifetime collection of Rs 37 cr.

Yet, except for one editorial written by Nitin Tej Ahuja where he puts the spotlight on the significant pay gaps between male and female actors in Hindi cinema, no one is even questioning the sexist wage practices that are prevalent here. At least in Hollywood, there is awareness about the pay-parity issue and actors like Jennifer Lawrence and many others are constantly pushing for a correction.

We also doff our hats to someone like The Crown actor Matt Smith, who when he learnt that his colleague, Claire Foy was getting lesser than him, actually spoke up in her favour. Smith told the makers of The Crown that he would be more comfortable if Claire was paid as much as he was. He added, "Efforts need be made to create a level playing field, and of course the makers of the web series have paid heed to his suggestion.

So, hoping the day will not be far when female actors in Bollywood are paid as much as their male counterparts. After all, if you check the recent success ratio, movies with women protagonists have truly set the cash registers ringing. This year alone we have had shining examples that include Padmaavat, Hichki, Raazi and the latest Veere Di Wedding all of which have generated good numbers.