I Know My Worth: Deepika Padukone Bridges Pay Gap

The actor has refused a film which did not offer equal pay.

Deepika Padukone is one of India’s highest paid actors.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

Deepika Padukone has bridged the much talked about gender pay gap in Bollywood. She recently said on the sidelines of an event that she has refused a project where the makers insisted on paying her less than the leading man.

According to Indian Express, the actor opened up about gender pay gap at the launch of The Dot That Went For A Walk, a book about 51 real women heroes including Deepika. She talked about how the director of a project she liked came and told her he wouldn’t be able to afford her as he had to accommodate the male (lead). “So, then I said ‘tata- good bye’ as I know my track record. I know my worth. I know that his films haven’t been doing as well as my films have. So, it made absolutely no sense.”

The actor, who was 2018’s highest earning woman celebrity in India, also added that films today provide plenty of opportunities to pick and choose from.

“The kind of films and the place of a woman in these films have changed a lot. And, of course, the pay. I would like to speak for myself. I have been able to bridge the gap, in terms of what my male contemporaries get paid versus what I am getting paid.”

Deepika Padukone

Deepika was present at the launch of the book The Dot That Went For A Walk.(Photo: Yogen Shah)

She also said that in any film, she is expected to contribute equally as her male co-star.

“I don’t think I would be able to live with the thought that despite the same kind of creative contribution as my male co-star, and bringing in the same kind of value to the film as him, I am being underpaid. I was not okay with that.”

(Source: Indian Express)