Equal pay or Bye Bye - Deepika on rejecting film due to pay parity

Deepika Padukone is one the highest paid and finest actress of Indian cinemas. She was at the launch of the children's book ' The Dot that went for a walk ‘, a book about 51 real women superheroes with one chapter on Deepika. It was then when she spoke about ' pay parity ‘in Indian cinemas and stood firmly for herself.

Deepika revealed a real incident where she rejected a film which she found quite creative and interesting just because the director was paying her less in order to accommodate the male lead actor. Gone are the days when women were underpaid and did less to take a stand for the right. Pay parity is a major subject in news for a quiet time now and today women are demanding what they are capable of and equal pay as their male counterparts.

Deepika said, “Today in films, there is no lack of opportunity. 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.”

Acknowledging of what she is capable of she said, "I know my track record and I know what I am worth and then his (the male actor's) films haven't been doing as well as mine. It made absolutely no sense and I said no to that film because it was unfair. I am ready to take those decisions for myself. Because of that, I can sleep peacefully at night,"