Kangana Ranaut recently addressed the issue of pay parity in Bollywood, asserting that she is the only actress who receives remuneration on par with male actors.
Her comments came in response to a video shared by Priyanka Chopra on Instagram Stories, where Priyanka discussed the disparity in pay between male and female actors in the industry.
Kangana claimed to be the first actor to fight for pay parity and expressed that even today, many female actors work for free.
Sharing the video on her own Instagram Stories, Kangana wrote a caption expressing her thoughts on the matter. She acknowledged the tendency of women in the past to conform to patriarchal norms and highlighted her role as a pioneer in advocating for equal pay.
Kangana also revealed that during negotiations for certain roles, her contemporaries offered to work for free. She confidently asserted that most A-list actresses do films without compensation and resort to other means to secure roles for fear of losing them to more influential individuals. She also criticized the practice of strategically releasing articles claiming to be the highest-paid actresses.
Kangana went on to state that she is the sole female actor in the film industry who receives equal pay as male actors. She concluded by remarking that everyone in the industry is aware of this fact and that there is no one else to blame.
Kangana and Priyanka had previously shared screen space in the 2008 film Fashion, for which they both received National Film Awards. Earlier, Kangana had responded to Priyanka's statements in an interview where she expressed feeling marginalized in the industry.
Kangana had criticized Karan Johar, tweeting, "This is what @priyankachopra has to say about Bollywood, people ganged up on her, bullied her and chased her out of the film industry. A self-made woman was made to leave India. Everyone knows Karan Johar had banned her."
Kangana's recent film, Dhaakad, released in 2022, underperformed at the box office. She is currently working on Emergency, a film she is directing herself, where she portrays former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Additionally, she has Tejas, Sita: The Incarnation, and Didda: The Warrior Queen of Kashmir in the pipeline.
