Priyanka Chopra opens up on pay disparity in Bollywood, reveals, ‘I would get paid 10% of my male co-actor's salary’

New Delhi: Priyanka Chopra is one of the four Indians who made it to BBC’s list of 100 Women this year. However, during an interview after the same, the actress opened up on how things were never easy for her, especially in the beginning.  

While talking to BBC, she talked about how she never had pay parity in Bollywood, in fact, in her initial days, she was paid 10 percent of her male co-star. “I've never had pay parity in Bollywood. I would get paid about 10% of the salary of my male co-actor. It's (the pay gap) large, substantially large. And so many women still deal with that. I'm sure I will too if I worked with a male co-actor now in Bollywood,” she said. Further on, she said, “My generation of female actors have definitely asked (for equal pay). We've asked, but we've not got it.” 

Speaking more on the biases she faced as a female actor, she said, “I thought it was absolutely OK to sit for hours and hours on set, while my male co-actor just took his own time, and decided whenever he wanted to show up on set is when we would shoot.”  

When asked about how things are different in Hollywood, she said that it’s the first time she is starring as a lead with a male co-star. “Well, the first time it's happened to me, it has happened in Hollywood. So I don't know going forward. Because this was my first show with a male actor as a co-lead,” she said. 

She further talked about how she was called dusky because of her complexion. “I was called 'black cat', 'dusky'. I mean, what does 'dusky' even mean in a country where we are literally all brown?,” she said. 

Meanwhile, on the work front, Priyanka Chopra will next be seen in international projects such as ‘It`s All Coming Back To Me`, and `Citadel`. Produced by Russo Brothers, `Citadel` will hit the OTT on Prime Video. The upcoming sci-fi drama series is being directed by Patrick Morgan and stars Richard Madden alongside Priyanka. 

In Bollywood, she will be starring with Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif in Farhan Akhtar`s `Jee Le Zaraa` which marks Farhan Akhtar’s return to the director’s chair after ‘Don 2’. `Jee Le Zaraa` is reportedly going on floors soon and will be ready for release in the summer of 2023.