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Woman Up | Vidya Balan on breaking stereotypes, being the pioneer of female led films, pay parity and lot more
There was no plan of doing female centric cinema that’s commercially viable, says Vidya Balan in this candid chat with Pinkvilla
Vidya Balan has always been the pioneer of women led films in Bollywood and it’s her who started the trend with films like No One Killed Jessica, Kahani, The Dirty Picture, Ishqiya and many more. On International Women’s Day, the actress got in a candid conversation with Pinkvilla, discussing her diverse film choices, the stereotypes she broke through her journey in Bollywood as also body shaming, pay parity and her upcoming film, Sherni. Talking about bringing the number game in forefront for the woman in Bollywood, Vidya says, “It’s all about timing. I didn’t decide in my head that I want to be doing female centric cinema that’s commercially viable. There was no plan or strategy, I just responded to content that was offered to me. I just happened to be an actor in it.”
Ever since the success of No One Killed Jessica, followed by The Dirty Picture, and Kahani in a short span of time, the female led films came to the forefront and so did the box-office collections. It also led to the discussion of pay parity of men and women in the industry. Prod Vidya on the subject and she has a balanced and objective take on the same. “I definitely think, we have a long way to go before we get the kind of money that our male counterparts get. I do understand that filmmaking is a business, and the so called female centric cinema and it’s success is a recent phenomenon. Therefore, people are pushing the envelope one step at a time.
Our budgets will increase and we will get bigger number in fees. Though things have definitely improved, we still have a long way to go. If you compare just the ratio of how much a male actor gets out of the budget and how much a female actress gets out of the budget of a film, it’s the same. Which is why am saying, if the budget of film increases, the pay will also increase,” she shares. In the conversation the actress also revealed that shooting in the jungles for Sherni was a great experience and she discovered the connect between humans and nature through the shoot. She also spoke about five stereotypes that she broke through her films, shared a message for the women of India and also, opened up about her personal experience with regards to body shaming.
Watch the full conversation below:
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