Yami Gautam opens up about the pay parity in Bollywood

Yami Gautam recently opened up about the pay parity in Bollywood. The difference between the pay of a female and male actor in the entertainment industry has always been a topic of discussion and the alarming difference has come to lessen over time. But Yami Gautam , who celebrates her birthday today, said that there is pay disparity still existing in Bollywood and that the change is still just about coming around.

Yami told ETimes, “We all have our respective remunerations and I respect that but there is, of course, a pay disparity. It will take time, the conversation has just started. I’m sure the change has started taking a certain shape for certain actresses and I am glad but when you speak of the majority culture, it takes time because a fixed structure has been set for a really long time. It will take time but the good part is that the awareness has begun and it shouldn’t just be about pay parity. It should also be the kind of roles that are written first for women.”

Yami , who tied the knot with Uri director Aditya Dhar,  recalled that when she was offered Bala with Ayushmann Khurrana, director Amar Kaushik and others told her, “How will Yami do this role? This is a comedy character and she comes across as a very intense person!” But it took a lot of faith by just one person. Yami added, “We can only support this argument that way. I think it will go hand in hand with the kind of roles that are being written and the faith that writers, makers, and producers will have in female actresses and I think the audience is ready for that. It doesn’t have to be only a female-led one, it can have a balance of good characters. I don’t see why there aren’t many comedy characters written for females? We’ve had such outstanding actresses do that in the past! I’m sure the gap will be bridged soon.”

 

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Apart from pay parity, Yami also said that female actresses always have to express and talk about their ‘strong roles’ compared to male actors, “During interviews, we actresses often say, including me, that, ‘I play a very strong girl in this film’… have you ever heard a guy say, ‘I play a very strong role in this film’? Why do we have to underline our roles? The thing is that we have to be expressive, we have to be verbose. I am a strong girl… that’s the conditioning. But now there is a broader awareness, we are opening up to ideas and newer opportunities.”

Also Read: Yami Gautam spills beans on her love story with husband Aditya Dhar