“Not a single actress can do Rs 500 crore business the way a Salman Khan film does at the box office” – Kajol

September 22, 2018 - 12:21 PM IST

The evergreen Kajol has always been one of the most favourite actresses of all time. Kajol is currently promoting her upcoming film Helicopter Eela in which she essays the role of an aspiring singer. Kajol, with a career spanning over 26 years, has always been blunt and outspoken about her views on several issues. The actress recently talked about pay disparity among male and female actors.

“Not a single actress can do Rs 500 crore business the way a Salman Khan film does at the box office” – Kajol

Many actresses, in the past, have raised their voices against the pay disparity. When asked Kajol about the existing issue, she said that not a single female actors’ film can make Rs 500 crore worth box office business like the way a Salman Khan film can at the box office .“I think that issue has to do with box office collections to a big extent and there is gender issue for sure, but if you see, not a single actress film can do Rs 500 crore business the way a Salman Khan film does at the box office. Actresses over the years have been integral part in the success of a film, but after all, it’s a business," she said during media interaction for Helicopter Eela.

Talking about the change the Indian cinema has seen with the female oriented films, Kajol said that she is grateful that the audiences are willing to watch such films. “I am very grateful that today’s audience has changed and they are going to theatres to watch films like Kahaani and Raazi. People are making these films because it is now financially okay to make them and it’s all happening because of audience changing perspective. It’s a simple logic that if you go in a grocery shop, the owner of that shop will sell those products which have larger sale and you have to take that into consideration while making a film as well. Having said that, I am not saying that there is no gender discrimination in the industry. There is definitely gender discrimination and the pay structure has to change.”

Coming back to Helicopter Eela, the film revolves around an over-protective but cool mother who joins his son’s college to spend more time with him! It is a tale of cool mother-son duo and a twist in the tale as her plans backfire and she suffers a backlash from Vivan for invading his privacy.

Helicopter Eela is an adaptation of the renowned Gujarati play Beta Kagdo. The actress will reportedly play an aspiring singer who is also a single mother. It is produced by Kajol’s husband Ajay Devgn and Jayantilal Gada (Pen India Limited) the film. The film will release on October 12, 2018.