There have been several Bollywood actors like Kriti Sanon, Sonakshi Sinha, Rasika Dugal, Radhika Apte, among others who have spoken about the frustrating pay disparity and how power is misused in the Hindi film industry. It has remained a hot topic among actors.
Well, this time, filmmakers like Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar had a conversation around how actors’ prices are still going up despite the industry taking a hit amid the pandemic.
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Karan Johar in a recent interview said that he is ‘fed up’ with the constant increase in actors’ fees even though they haven’t added much to the box office, reported The Indian Express.
“I’m so fed up. I have seen actors’ prices rise through the worse period of cinema for no reason. They have not had a release and their last release was a failure. Their films have not taken off and yet they are just going on because they are riding on the digital money.”
He adds that newcomers who are yet to deliver also up their rates.
“There is a younger order that is yet to prove their muscle at the box office. They’re asking for Rs 20 or 30 crores. For no reason. Then you want to show a report card to them and say, that ‘hello, this is what your film opened to’.”
When asked how even big production houses cannot refuse to pay so much to actors, he answered:
“You can have the hard conversations and maybe strike a better deal than other houses, but it wasn’t fair. I would rather pay top dollar and much more to members of the technical crew, who actually make the film special.”
He wonders, “Why am I paying some actors are paid 15 crores, and an editor Rs 55 lakhs. But that has suddenly become the norm.”
He adds, “The mindset is like ‘why are we paying the writer so much?’ How dare you say that? The film is good because of the writing. It’s not good because an actor will do their job. The fulcrum of the film lies in its narrative.”
At the director’s round table, Zoya Akhtar added that she finds the pay disparity between those above the line and below ‘offensive’.
“You can’t make good films without technicians and the disparity is shocking. I think people have to collectively decide.”
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Their discussion on the pay disparity between the actors and the technical staff, writers, and crew is the one that should be had very often. They suggested that a collective effort from filmakers and a framework would help tap this issue. What do you think?