Kareena Kapoor Discusses Pay Disparity In Bollywood With Anil Kapoor, He Leaves Her Stumped With His Response

Kareena Kapoor has often vocalized her thoughts about the pay disparity in Bollywood. The actress took up the discussion once again with actor Anil Kapoor on her chat show and he managed to leave her momentarily at loss for words.

The Veere Di Wedding actress asked Anil if the pay gap between actors and actresses in Bollywood needs to be addressed and gave the example of the Hollywood stars who stood up for the female co-stars demanding they be paid equally. On being prodded if Bollywood too needs to follow the same approach Anil simply told Kareena,  “You toh took a lot of money from me,” leaving her slightly confused and at loss for words. At last she said, “We are breaking barriers, we are doing that. But like you said, there are still some people…”

Anil who had produced Kareena’s film Veere Di Wedding then recalled how during the negotiations for the film with her, he got many calls from producers who said, “Yaar, yeh toh hero se zyada paise maang rahi hai.’ Maine bola, ‘De do (‘She is demanding more money than the actor.’ I said, ‘Give it’). They all called me up also, I said, ‘Done.’ They were calling me when the negotiations were on. I said, ‘Bebo jo maangegi, de do (Give Kareena what she wants).’”

Relating to his own experience, Anil said he doesn’t mind being paid less than his female co-star for a film. “There are so many films where the leading actress has taken more money and maine khushi khushi kiya,” he told Kareena.