Women actors still struggle for equal pay in films: NCW Chief

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: The situation is improving but still women are not treated equally in terms of payment, said National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma in Hyderabad on Monday.

“Compared to earlier times, the situation is improving I must say, but it is still not equal in terms of payments, in terms of roles which women are getting. Few women actors are getting those kinds of roles where they are equal to men,” the NCW chief told media during an event in Hyderabad.

Further, she said, “Mostly women are not treated equally in the cinemas whether it is payment or roles. That’s how we started this conversation where NCW and Netflix both can talk about the responsibility of cinema makers of how they portray women in the cinema and outside cinema, and how women should be treated. I think these conversations will help improve the situation in the movie industry.”

She further spoke on the advantages brought in by the OTT platforms for women in the film industry.

“The opportunities are more now. Earlier there were southern movies or Bollywood movies but now the platform is vast. OTT platforms have given so many opportunities to women actors of all age groups, not only the younger group but also the elderly women and men as makers, as story writers or as directors,” she said.

“Women are even coming up as camera persons. Cinema is a livelihood for women, as a writer, as a cinematographer and others. Also, OTT is showing real-life women now apart from women with full of makeup and beauty. It is now showing the real heroes, women and men.”

Responding to whether women prefer on-screen or off-screen opportunities, she said, “I think both are important. On-screen is as important as off-screen, so women should take these opportunities as challenges and take their role seriously whether it is off-screen or on-screen.”

The NCW chief further emphasized that the rise of OTT platforms has weakened the exploitations through casting couch compared to earlier times adding that things are changing for the better.

“Certainly earlier it was like women had to go through a certain process which used to be called by different names like casting couch or something like that. Maybe this is still existing but it is less now and women know how to react to it.

They have come out and spoken about it in the past also. But now more women are coming out if something happens. However, everything is not very clean but things are changing for the better,” she said.

Speaking about women in the film industry, NCW member, politician and actor Khushboo Sunder urged to stop celebrating women’s achievements every single time making it look like they have done something unachievable adding that there’s nothing that women cannot achieve.

“First of all, I don’t understand why we are always looking at the comparisons. I think we need to understand that women are doing a great job. It’s amazing to see women making huge progress today. We need to stop celebrating that every time there’s an achievement about a woman,” she said.

Further, Sunder said, “We think that women have done something which is unachievable but there’s nothing which women can’t achieve. The minute we start glorifying a woman’s success, we show gender inequality.

There’s a very thin line between celebrating a woman’s success and glorifying a woman’s success. We need to start celebrating a woman’s success not glorify it.”

She added that it gives her a good feeling about women in cinema adding that they are doing great.

“In today’s times, women are behind the screen in huge numbers. Both my daughters are assistant directors. So I think women are making it big. Girls take up every challenge, the way they want to present cinema, they all have these new ideas and they have their new mindsets,” Sunder said.

Adding, she said, “The older generation is different and the younger generation is different. The 100 per cent acceptance doesn’t come from that in-between crowd because they are literally lost in the new generation and the few thoughts of the older generation.

So there are times when the acceptance doesn’t come from their side. But I think women are doing great when it comes to cinema.”

She also talked about the opportunities after the emergence of OTT platforms and said, “People are evolving. Earlier television serials used to be only for women. We used to target only women audience. Now we have OTT platforms which are doing extremely well.

Theatres are full. Films are doing extremely well, irrespective of the language. Every film is dubbed into at least five languages. Despite all this, we have television series which are still showing the top TRPs.”

Sunder added that nothing has changed but the people are experiencing cinema on a wider platform.

“We have so much talent around in every aspect of filmmaking. The challenge is more for a film-maker or an actor now as the world has grown as one and they will be immediately compared to someone else. With the larger platform, the challenges are also extremely heavy,” she added.

National Commission for Women (NCW) alongside Netflix and Annapurna Studios, hosted a significant event in Hyderabad, centred around the theme ‘Cinema as a Catalyst for Change’.

The event drew a full-house audience and welcomed esteemed dignitaries and eminent figures from the industry. This event marked a significant step in addressing gender disparities and advocating for diversity and inclusion within the film industry.