Deepika Padukone to become Bollywood's highest paid female actor?

The wage inequality in Bollywood became a point of much debate last year, when actresses like Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadda, Priyanka Chopra, and Anushka Sharma spoke up against it.

Anushka Sharma's statements at Anupama Chopra's interview, got right to the root of the issue, which is that despite no malicious intent on the part of producers, men are just treated better, because there is an instinctive assumption that they are more important for the film, and that women don't "need" to be paid that much.

In the wake of all this, there has been another small, but tangible step to reducing this wage gap.

If reports in an entertainment portal are to be believed, Deepika Padukone, whose astonishing success at the box office is one of the most underrated things in the Hindi film industry right now, is all set to become the highest paid female actor in the history of Bollywood by demanding a whopping INR 15 crore per film.

This is an important step, because while it is important to keep fighting for wage equality, small victories need to be appreciated. Put together, these victories can result in substantial, long-term changes.

Coming to wage equality, it must be kept in mind that the fight is for equality of wage, and not women making more money compared to other women! The idea is to first have actors be compensated according to their stardom and market value, and not their gender, which, unfortunately, is still happening in the industry. This was the case with Bajirao Mastani, when Ranveer Singh was able to negotiate for a share in the film's profit, but Deepika and Priyanka, two much bigger stars, were not.

Deepika Padukone has starred in 12 consecutive box office hits, going all the way back to 2011. She is equally responsible for pulling the audience in for films like Piku, Cocktail, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela, and Bajirao Mastani, as her male co-stars.

Films like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Tamasha owe their success to the lure of the Ranbir Kapoor -Deepika Padukone coupling, but while Ranbir Kapoor can demand huge shares of film profits as remuneration, Deepika, who is an equal partner in this pair, cannot.

Deepika deserves to be congratulated on this achievement, but as far as 'wage equality' is concerned it has a long way to go and needs all the support it can gather!