Zeenat Aman says 'everything has changed in Bollywood except gender pay gap'

Legendary actress Zeenat Aman opens up the gender pay gap existing in the Bollywood film industry.  

Zeenat shared an old video of her from the sets of film Qurbani where she can be seen shooting for the song Laila O Laila. After the shoot, she gives an interview to a guy named Keith Adam from Australian Broadcasting Commission where she talks about women mostly getting ornamental roles.

Through her IG post she stated that she feels good to see the industry change in terms of roles for women but the gender pay disparity still exists.

“It’s been nearly 50 years since this footage was shot, and the industry has changed immensely since. The roles available to women are clearly not just ornamental anymore. What hasn’t changed though is the gender pay gap. In my time I was lauded as the “highest paid female actor”, but the disparity in the pay cheque between my male co-stars and myself was so vast it was laughable,”

The Zeenat you see in this clip was quite certain that half a century would be enough time to even the scales. So it disappoints me that even today women in the film industry don’t have wage parity. Women have consistently put in the work, and I really think that the onus is now on our men - actors, directors, producers - to ensure that their female co-workers (not just stars) are paid fairly. It seems such a simple and obvious thing, and yet it would be revolutionary if any man actually did this.”

Zeenat Aman’s post was appreciated by actors Shweta Bachchan and Sanjay Kapoor, reports PinkVilla.