 "Deepika Padukone vs ‘Animal’ director Sandeep Vanga for ‘Spirit’: How is gender pay gap a yawning maw?")
Reportedly, Deepika Padukone wanted 20 crores and a cut of the profit, her lines to be dubbed and 8 hours of work per day. But how is she wrong? Her demands are not justified as per Sandeep Vanga. But when it comes to male actors charging a whopping amount it is considered to be normal.
According to a report by _Track Tollywoo_d published in Hindustan Times, Allu Arjun charged a whopping ₹300 crore for Pushpa 2: The Rule, his much-anticipated upcoming film. Given that big films like Jawan and Kanguva had budgets of ₹300 crore, this is an astronomical amount, making Arjun India’s highest-paid actor. The Telugu star surpassed Rajinikanth, who earned ₹250 crore for Jailer, and Vijay earned a similar amount for Leo.
Gender pay Gap in the entertainment industry
A failed negotiation has been turned into a different story by ‘Animal’ director Sandeep Vanga.Gender pay gap across industries remains a yawning maw. During the Citadel launch in India Priyanka Chopra opened up on the issue of pay disparity for actresses in the movie business. The actress revealed that only now, after being in the industry for more than 20 years, she is getting paid equal to her male counterparts and that is for her latest web show Citadel. She went on to state that when she was actively working in India, she couldn’t have asked for equal pay. She only asked for a little bit more than what she was being paid, but even that wouldn’t work for her.
Even Kriti Sanon during an exclusive interview with Firstpost once said, “It’s still there. It will take time to have a balance. There are a lot of things involved in it. It is not just the producers. It’s also how you pitch a film. Someone needs to take the risk of mounting the film on a woman’s shoulder at a certain scale. When you put it at a certain scale you might get a lot more audience than you generally get."
She explained that when you shoot a male actor lead film whether it is a Sooryavanshi or Animal, the way the mounting of the hero happens it’s like larger than life. It is something which is aspirational and draws in a lot of people. Gangubai Kathiawadi was one such film where I felt that after a while there was so much mounting of a woman actor in that scale. And it was really exciting to see. It did give the numbers – the hundred crore profit. But of course, nothing justifies the amount of difference in the pay that is there in the industry.”
Gender pay gay a global phenomenon
Not just Bollywood or Tollywood, the gender pay gap world over just stinks. Sharon Stone once said at the Red Sea Film Festival 2022, “The difference between her Basic Instinct salary and that of co-star Michael Douglas meant she was not able to feel secure after the film made her famous. “I made $500,000, and Michael Douglas made $14m.”
In conversation with the Basic Instinct actor Sharon Stone with Firstpost during that time, she mentioned, “would like to have directed” after her breakthrough role in Paul Verhoeven’s erotic thriller Basic Instinct in 1992, but wasn’t allowed to do so due to her gender. At the Red Sea International Film Festival, Sharon Stone said, “I went to the studio and asked them for a small budget,” said Stone. “And I was laughed out of the room; I was told ‘women don’t direct’.”
What Sandeep Reddy Vanga had to say?
Sandeep Reddy Vanga turned around the story for everyone with his viral post where he slammed actress Deepika Padukone after her exit from his upcoming movie Spirit featuring Prabhas. Taking to X, the Animal director shared a cryptic tweet. The director didn’t mention Deepika Padukone but slammed her for her ‘dirty PR games’ and revealing some parts of her film’s story.
“When I narrate a story to an actor, I place 100% faith. There is an unsaid NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) between us. But by doing this, You’ve ‘DISCLOSED’ the person that you are…Putting down a Younger actor and ousting my story? Is this what your feminism stands for? As a filmmaker, I put years of hard work behind my craft & for me, filmmaking is everything. You didn’t get it. You won’t get it. You will never get it," Vanga wrote.
Lachmi Deb Roy is the Entertainment Editor of Firstpost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. She is a 'Rotten Tomatoes' certified critic. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes a huge interest in world cinema. She has been the winner of the prestigious Laadli Media and Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity for two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until it's a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too.