ANUSHKA SHARMA:
OPENS UP ABOUT GENDER INEQUALITY IN BOLLYWOOD
Just when we were reeling under the unending debate over the issue of nepotism in Bollywood, Anushka Sharma has set the ball rolling on the topic of gender inequality in the Indian film industry.
The actress who made her debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Yash Raj Film’s (YRF) Rab Ne Bana Di
Jodi in 2008, has worked with all three Khans of Bollywood–Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir, which naturally makes her eligible to comment on the next burning issue in Bollywood–gender inequality.
In an interview with Midday, the 29-year-old actress was quoted as saying: “Male actors are better valued than us (women) in Hindi cinema.”
Anushka, who owns the production house Clean Slate Films, was also quoted by the leading tabloid as saying: “Films led by female actors do not open to remarkable numbers. A lot of us are trying to change that with the kind of work we do.”
Seven years after her Bollywood debut, Anushka took up production with 2015 crime drama NH10, which featured her in the lead role. Phillauri, the last film she was seen in, was also produced by Clean Slate Films.
Last week during the trailer release of her upcoming film, Jab
Harry Met Sejal, Anushka had an interesting take on nepotism. “I have been launched by a banner like Yash Raj Films. They do not put anything before a new talent. That is their priority. So, I did not face such thing as nepotism. Having said that I think people can be treated differently in the same industry. And we should respect that,” she said.
Having said that, the actress further elucidated to Midday, that her statement on nepotism didn’t mean that Bollywood was in anyway fair.
“Who said that the industry was fair? Talking of the gender divide won’t make it go away,” she exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Anushka is busy promoting her upcoming movie,
Jab Harry Met Sejal, in which she is starring alongside Shah Rukh.
Directed by Imtiaz Ali, the movie will be releasing on August 4. After this, she will be seen in the forthcoming thriller Pari which is her third production.
She also recently concluded her New York shoot for the Rajkumar Hirani-directed Sanjay Dutt biopic. India Today