Kareena Kapoor Khan has joined the debate on pay parity in Bollywood. Speaking at the Jio MAMI Movie Mela with Star, the Veere Di Wedding actor said she has never walked out of a film due to pay disparity but wishes to be remunerated as highly as her male co-stars.
“There were probably different reasons of walking out of films, but not because of this particular reason. I’d love to get paid as much as my male co-stars though,” Kareena said in a conversation with actor Alia Bhatt and filmmaker Karan Johar.
Kareena’s upcoming film, Good News, is co-produced by Dharma Productions. Asked if she and co-star Akshay Kumar are getting paid equally on the film, Kareena responded, “Please pay me as much as you paid Akshay Kumar I’ll run out of MAMI!”
In defense, Karan pointed to the larger economics behind the movie business.
“Many times, people make sweeping statements about it. I’m the first person who’ll always want to pay what is completely right and justified and valid. I’ve always done it. But I feel there’s a larger understanding of the budget versus the verticals that you sell on digital and satellite that are driven by different data. So, it’s very subjective and cannot be just put into one strong slot,” he said.