Un fair share of bollywood

Their smiles brighten up the screen, their stunts make you hold your breath and their histrionics are enough to hold their own against the biggest heroes. But when it comes to the share of earnings, the leading ladies of B-town come way below their male counterparts. While the imbalance has been there since films first started being made in India, even now, despite corporate funding in the industry, and a lot more players, the gap has only widened.

“While heroes like Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are earning around Rs 25 crore per film, plus profits, the top heroines are still within the Rs 5 crore bracket. A top leading lady like Kareena Kapoor or Aishwarya Rai may get as much as Rs 5 crore per film, which is lesser than what even second rung stars like John Abraham or Shahid Kapoor get,” trade sources say.

Despite the fact that Kareena carried Jab We Met on her shoulders, the fact remains that she was paid around Rs 2 crore for the film while Shahid got more than that.

Aishwarya’s co-star in the upcoming Robot, Rajnikanth, is the highest paid actor in the country, with a remuneration somewhere between Rs35-40 crore, Aishwarya herself is said to have been offered only Rs5-7 crore for her role.

While the leading ladies readily admit the gaping inequality, they also seem to be resigned to Bollywood’s scheme of things. “I know that there is huge difference in what we earn as compared to our male counterparts, but that’s the way things work. There is no point in fighting it and nor do I have any regrets about that,” says Kareena.