Kriti Sanon slams gender pay gap in Bollywood: 'It’s a circle where female-led films don’t end up making...'

Kriti Sanon, known for her roles in movies like Mimi, Bareilly Ki Barfi, and Luka Chuppi, among others, slammed Bollywood for the gender pay gap in the industry. She asked why the pay is different if the work remains the same.

“Actually, considering all the other industries, I don’t understand why the pay parity is not there. Because for certain kinds of roles, certain kinds of jobs, whether you are a male or a female, it shouldn’t matter, and the pay should be the same. In the films, yes we’ve been having this conversation for a very, very long time and trust me it pinches us more than anyone else,” said Sanon speaking at the CNN-News18 event.

“Even if it’s a film led by a woman, I feel it’s not scaled at the same budget as a film that is led by a man would be. But that’s also because producers are scared that they are not going to get as much money back. So I think it’s a circle where female-led films don’t end up making as much money as the male-led films, and then it’s like ‘oh, that’s why his fees are more or her fees are less’," she added.

Kriti now stands at the centre of Indian cinema’s next big chapter. She is set to lead Don 3, Cocktail 2, and the much-awaited pan-India love saga Tere Ishk Mein opposite Dhanush—each film positioned as a major tentpole in the years to come.