Kajal Aggarwal: ‘The Difference Between Male and Female Actors’ Remuneration is Massive’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Actor Kajal Aggarwal says there is still a long way to go when it comes to equal remuneration for women in the film industry. Post Deepika Padukone’s exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s "Spirit," issues such as fixed work shifts, fair pay and workplace conditions for female actors came into the spotlight. Aggarwal, whose upcoming film, "The India Story," releases next month, weighs in... 

At present, there is an ongoing conversation on the pay disparity between male and female actors in the industry. Your opinion? 

I hope a lot more actors will speak about it. There is definitely a disparity. Things are changing slowly. People are working toward it. It has become a lot more corporate, which has changed the game. And yet there is no comparison. The difference between male and female actors’ remuneration is massive.   

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You are a mother to a four-year-old. What do you feel about the demand for eight-hour workdays? 

Things have changed for me since I became a mother. My priorities have shifted, and it has become more challenging. I want to rush home at a specific hour. I try to structure my daily routine in a way that ensures I have fixed timings at work. I ensure that I write that down in my contract. I do one shift a day, which is approximately nine hours. In our industry, sometimes there are extraneous factors that are out of anyone’s control, and you have to be flexible.  

Recently, actress Janhvi Kapoor talked about how disciplined the South industry is in terms of work timings, unlike the Hindi industry. Do you agree? 

That is true. We don’t work beyond nine hours. I am a little more biased toward the South industry, because that is where I started my career, and there is a certain comfort level that I don’t enjoy in Bollywood. Besides the discipline and punctuality, there is a lot of respect for women here.  

Why are there so few women on set in the South industry? While in Hindi cinema, the female workforce is about 30 to 40 percent, it’s much lower in the South. 

Yes, to some extent, that is correct. But the numbers are changing. The graph is tilting. It’s just a matter of time before there will be a complete shift.