Saif Ali Khan breaks silence on Bollywood pay gap debate

Saif Ali Khan on pay parity: ‘Actors filling theatres deserve higher pay’ 

The Indian film industry has treated pay disparity as a continuous subject of discussion because actors and filmmakers regularly argue about the different earnings which male and female stars receive.

Saif Ali Khan has expressed his opinion about the topic by stating that he thinks stars with box office appeal should receive higher pay because of their ability to attract audiences.

Saif Ali Khan on pay parity in Bollywood

Saif appeared on Soha Ali Khan’s podcast which she runs on her YouTube channel with Kunal Kemmu as his sister Soha Ali Khan.

The film industry pay gap debate showed Saif and Kunal explained that people receive salaries based on box office performance and audience interest instead of their gender.

Saif expressed his belief that actors who have achieved the same status should receive identical salaries for their work. He admitted that the industry system determines actor salaries based on their success in attracting audiences to movie theatres.

Saif said, “If the actors are of equal stature they should be paid the same amount. But I also feel the economics work in a certain way. If you are putting people in seats in the theatre you get paid accordingly. Everyone understands that relationship.”

Saif added, “It’s not like just because you are a certain gender you deserve to be paid more or less. It’s a very balanced economic system where people are clear that this person is a superstar because they are filling theatres. They know their worth charge that price and get paid.”

Kunal explained the mathematical calculations which determine actor salaries in the film industry because he showed how distributors used star power to assess a movie’s financial recovery potential.

“There is a maths to it. This is the mathematical part not whether a film will work or not that’s a different thing. Earlier distributors knew that if I have this actor I can sell a territory for a certain amount of money and that becomes part of the recovery,” he said.