Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan says she has never walked out of a film due to pay disparity but hopes to get paid as much as her male co-stars in films. At the Jio MAMI Movie Mela with Star, 2019, Kareena was in conversation with filmmaker Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt.
When asked if she has ever walked out of a film because she was getting paid less, the actor said, “There were probably different reasons of walking out of films, but not because of this particular reason. I’d love to get paid as much as my male co-stars though.” Kareena recently worked in Johar’s home production Good News, co-starring Akshay Kumar.
When Johar asked, that one would assume Kareena and Akshay would’ve gotten paid equally, Kareena quipped, “Please pay me as much as you paid Akshay Kumar I’ll run out of MAMI!”
Johar, however, said there is a larger understanding of the economics of movies that sometimes is “lesser known by people who don’t understand the business and how it functions.”
“Many times, people make sweeping statements about it. I’m the first person who’ll always want to pay what is completely right and justified and valid. I’ve always done it. But I feel there’s a larger understanding of the budget versus the verticals that you sell on digital and satellite that are driven by different data.”
“Sometimes the data of satellite and digital look at the history of the artiste, male or female I’m not specifying, and that determines a certain price factor and then those determine the final cost of what you pay,” he added.
The filmmaker said there are many women who deserve much more money than the men and there are men who have earned that because of their talent and just the work they have put in. “So, it’s very subjective and cannot be just put into one strong slot. While I’m all about equality, when it comes to love and paying people, but there are larger optics to look at where we have to.”
Alia said she is happy with what she’s getting paid.