Anushka Sharma bats for gender equal films and equality in income

Anushka said, “As an actor, you like to try every kind of role. I am glad my previous movies have worked well commercially and that’s why I am pretty much able to do this kind of movies too.”

As Anushka Sharma, quite enthusiastically, promoted her upcoming movie ‘NH10‘ in New Delhi, ‘feminism’ was all over the venue. While she rhetorically said that the movies should be looked at as stories rather being referred to as male-centric or female-centric, she reaffirmed her thoughts on the disparity of income.

(Read: ‘Chirpy’ Anushka Sharma talks about working in ‘NH10′, says would like to try every kind of role)

After the Union Budget 2015 was presented this year in the Indian Parliament, Anushka wrote a column for a leading daily in which she mentioned that actresses in Bollywood are paid a quarter of what their male counterparts are.

This was quite in tune with what Hollywood actress Patricia Arquette said in her speech while accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for ‘Boyhood’.

Patricia Arquette made an impassioned plea for “wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America”, which was duly supported by Jennifer Lopez and veteran actress Meryl Streep, who pumped their fists in the air when Arquette mouthed those words.

Coming to Bollywood, an excerpt from Anushka Sharma’s column says, “I feel that in the film industry, the Government should take measures to encourage us by easing our taxes. In my industry, we women get paid about ¼ of the salary of our male counterparts. Imagine, our expenditure on dresses and accessories is almost 40% of our income. Yet we are given a standard citizen’s exemption limit.”

“Obviously there is a disparity. It’s true that how much you’re paid depends on various factors. But nowadays it has become like that. An actor gets more and an actress a bit lesser. I agree maybe a new actor is not getting in as many as someone who’s already been there for a while.

I think there should be different standards to measure this,” Anushka said while commenting on this issue.

Things have changed, however, to a great extent these days. A “female-centric” movie is also earning as much as the other movies might do; a far cry from what used to happen earlier. But the disparity in income still remains, or so the actress have rued over the time.

Anushka Sharma was all for gender equality at the press event, as not only did she bat for ‘gender equal’ movies, but also refuted that ‘NH10′ was difficult for her as she is a ‘woman’. She said, “Action is difficult for everybody, irrespective of the gender. It was equally hard for me, Neil and Darshan, because we don’t do that in our real lives.”

‘NH10′ is Anushka’s first production with her company Clean Slate Films, co-produced along with Phantom films and is a story of a couple Meera and Arjun, who are professionals living in Gurgaon, whose road trip on National Highway 10 goes awry, after a series of unpleasant events. The movie is set to release on March 17.

Source:: Indian Express