Lara Dutta On Pay Gap In Bollywood: "Most Women Still Get Paid One-Tenth Of What The Actor Gets"

Lara Dutta is also rumoured to be playing Kaikeyi in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana

Lara Dutta has recently talked about the issue of pay gap in the film industry. In a conversation with Indianexpress.com, Lara was asked about the challenges she faced as an actress when she first entered Bollywood. To this, the actress replied, “As a woman, there were plenty of them, one of the biggest ones which we still fight is pay disparity. We work as hard if not harder than most of our male counterparts in the business, but most women still get paid, if they are lucky, one-tenth of what the actor gets paid.” Lara Dutta also shared her thoughts on the positive changes within Bollywood that have taken place over the years. She shared, “It's in process and there are a lot of wonderful women that have been a part of molding that change in perception. Earlier it was thought that by the time you reached 30, it was time for you to settle down as your career was finished. I never faced that. I am in my 40s now and I haven't stopped working.”

Talking about how it felt like being a celebrity 21 years ago, Lara Dutta added, “For me, it was just simpler but also more chaotic. The professionalism has come in with a lot of corporates and studios, and it has become more streamlined. Back then, it was a lot more free-flowing, but it was all over the place. There is so much pressure on the younger actors to present themselves in a certain way and there's this media presence. We, on the other hand, did our jobs, focused on our work, and got on with it.”

In addition to Lara Dutta, Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond features Jimmy Shergill, Elnaaz Norouzi, Ashutosh Rana, and Prasanna in pivotal roles. The show is available for streaming on Jio Cinema. Up next, Lara Dutta is set to appear in projects like Welcome To The Jungle and Suryast. Lara is also rumoured to be playing Kaikeyi in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana. However, there is no official confirmation of that. Click here to read all about it.