TAAPSEE ON PAY DISPARITY IN BTOWN
Says Taapsee Pannu about demands for equal pay. Also explains how remunerations and budgets are allocated for a project
Taapsee Pannu has always been vocal about sharing her opinions. She has expressed her concerns particularly over gender equality. She says that we still have a long battle to fight as it’s prevalent in all spheres of lives. “It’s one battle that I would want to see get solutions,” adds Taapsee.
Ask her about the pay disparities in the industry and if there’s scope for improvement, she says that there are a lot of areas, but this certainly is one of them. “It’s being highlighted by a lot of people lately, which is good. At least people have started talking about it. It’s not just prevalent in this industry, but everywhere. Talking about my profession, I’d love to get paid the same as my co-actors. But I also need to question myself if it’s fair. I can’t forcefully burden the producer asking for equal amount of money, if it is not me who is fetching the audience in the theatres. Our industry is so star-driven. The day I became a star and when the audience come to theatres thinking ‘yeh iski movie hai toh dekhne chalte hai’, which they do with most of our male actors. The day that happens, then I will be able to command equal amount of pay.”
However, she adds that opportunities in terms of roles have definitely got better. “At least in a month, I get three to four women-oriented scripts, but you can only take this much in a year. We are still in the budding phase. You’ve to be careful about making the right decisions because you are laying the base for something that can be become big in the future. I am careful while choosing women-oriented films because I really want them to work especially for the future,” says
Taapsee.