Abhishek Bachchan recently made a comeback to the big screen with Anurag Kashyap’s directorial, Manmarziyaan. And after his critically acclaimed performance in the film, the 42-year old actor has signed up many projects, and one of them also includes Anurag Basu’s sequel to Life in a Metro. Now, we know that he is married to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and hence he has an insight to offer when it comes to pay-scale of actors and actresses in the Hindi film industry. (Also Read: Priyanka Chopra And Nick Jonas Wedding Outfits Revealed, It Will Be A Red-Ivory Combination)
Abhishek Bachchan was interviewed by October director, Shoojit Sircar, and amidst the whole debate of different salaries for actors and #MeToo movement, Abhishek revealed that he has worked with Aishwarya in 9 films and in 8 among those, he has been paid less than his star wife. It must be mentioned here that Abhishek and Aishwarya would be seen together in Sarvesh Mewara's forthcoming film Gulab Jamun. They last shared the big screen together in Raavan (2010).
Talking about the pay parity this is what Abhishek said, “I would like to give this some context and perspective. The two women who are close to me, my mother and my wife have worked in the industry on their own terms. They’ve never been forced to do anything they didn’t want to do. There’s a huge debate on gender parity in the film business and in other industries. I’ve worked in nine films with my wife and in eight of those, she’s got paid more than I have. The highest-paid actor in Piku was Deepika (Padukone). It’s a business and if you are a saleable actor, you get paid accordingly. You can’t be a new actress and demand to be paid the same as Shah Rukh Khan.”
He was asked if he would be scared when and if his 6-year-old daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan decides to take up acting as a career. To this Abhishek replied that he would not be scared as his daughter would know how to take care of herself. Commenting on the ongoing #MeToo movement, he said that we are not ready as a society, and that people need to realise the hardships that women go through. He also cited himself as an example as against his sister, Shweta Bachchan Nanda who have always been treated as equals.
He further added, “First we have to stop character assassination, we have to listen before we judge. I don’t know what the end game of this campaign will be; what I am sure of is that it will set people thinking and make them aware, and that’s a welcome start.” (Suggested Read: Benafsha Can't Stop Praising Her 'Favourite Boy' Priyank Sharma, Replies To Divya's WhatsApp Chat)
We all know that Abhishek Bachchan has faced a lot of criticism for his acting over the years. Talking about criticism, the Yuva actor said, “It destroys me and I want it to destroy me. I would stick up my movie reviews on my bathroom mirror and highlight all the portions that said how bad I was... I would see my films almost every day. I am not a megalomaniac, I do it for educational purposes.”
He also added, “Failing publicly is humiliating and sometimes, people take pleasure in seeing you fail. I faced a lot of hardships at the beginning of my career — I would get thrown out of films, replaced, I wouldn’t be paid what was contracted. I slowly realised that it’s a business and you just have to pull up your socks and keep carrying on.”
Coming back to Aishwarya and Abhishek, these two make a perfect couple in the tinsel town, and he has time and again proven himself to be an ideal husband. Recently, he took Aishwarya and Aaradhya to Goa on the occasion of his wife’s birthday. In fact, on the day of Karva Chauth, he urged every husband to keep fasting for their wives, and tweeted, “#KarvaChauth, good luck ladies.... And the dutiful husbands who should also be fasting with their wives! I do.”
Aishwarya too never shies away from openly praising her husband. She once said, “He’s a friend, companion, husband, and a father, but I think the fact that he’s my bestest friend pretty much encapsulates it all. We are a very normal couple. Abhishek and I sometimes joke about being second siblings. We both share and talk a lot about what we are feeling. Sometimes, we have so much to say that we want to be the first to share it. So, I have to say this first: we are both good listeners, but also extremely talkative.” (Don't Miss: Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh's Functions Have Already Begun, Guests Say They're Love Personified)
As mentioned earlier, the two will next be seen together in Gulab Jamun. Talking about the same during the promotions of Fanney Khan, Aish had said, "We had agreed on the idea then. However, it was around the same time that AB decided to take time-out. After the hiatus, he returned with Manmarziyaan, which coincidentally is directed by Anurag Kashyap. That's when the chatter around Gulab Jamun began again, and we finally came on board. It is a beautiful script, and we fit the narrative perfectly."
Undeniably, these two make a power-couple together. What are your views on pay parity in Bollywood? Leave your comments below.
