Taapsee Pannu shuts down attacks against Kareena Kapoor for hiking her fee to play Sita: ‘If it was a man…’

Taapsee Pannu has said that Kareena Kapoor is well within her rights to demand a hefty salary for a comparatively more cumbersome shoot. Kareena was criticised online recently, after it was reported that she’d asked for ₹12 crore to play Sita in a film.

Taapsee Pannu said that it’s a sign of ingrained sexism that only women are criticised for hiking their salaries, and were a man to do the same thing, it would be viewed as a sign of his success.

She told Bollywood Bubble in an interview, “If it would have been a man in that position, who would have asked for a particular amount, it would have been looked upon like, ‘iski market badh gayi hai (his worth has improved)’. Like that guy has really achieved big success in life. But because a woman is asking for it, she’s called ‘difficult’, ‘too demanding’. It’s always like that.”

She added, “You’ll always read about this problem issue of hiked salary with women. But why not? She is one of the biggest female superstars we have in the country. If she commands a certain salary for her time, it’s her job. Do you think any other mythological characters that are played by men, do you think they do it for free? I don’t think so.”

Bollywood Hungama had previously quoted a source as saying that Kareena Kapoor had hiked her remuneration from around ₹6-8 crore to ₹12 crore for the Sita film, described as a retelling of the Ramayana from Sita’s perspective. The source also noted that the film would require between eight to 10 months of the actor’s time. Incidentally, her husband Saif Ali Khan is playing Lankesh in another film inspired by the Ramayana, Adipurush.

Also read: Taapsee Pannu says she has ‘bigger and better’ things to do than to respond to Kangana Ranaut: ‘I matter a lot’

Taapsee, meanwhile, will next be seen in Haseen Dillruba on Netflix. Directed by Vinil Mathew, the film also stars Vikrant Massey and Harshvardhan Rane.