Saif Ali Khan feels gender has nothing to do with pay gap in Bollywood: ‘It's a balanced economic system’

Saif Ali Khan explained that the pay system is not designed to favour one gender, but instead is a reflection of an actor’s market value and box-office pull.

Pay disparity has been a long-standing talking point in the Indian film industry, with actors and filmmakers frequently debating the gap between the earnings of male and female stars. Now, Saif Ali Khan has weighed in on the issue, mentioning that he believes that stars who can pull crowds to theatres deserve to be paid more for their box-office draw.

Saif Ali Khan is the son of veteran actor Sharmila Tagore.

Saif on pay parity

Recently, Saif appeared alongside his sister Soha Ali Khan on a podcast episode on her YouTube channel, with Kunal Kemmu also joining the conversation. Talking about the debate around pay disparity in the film industry, Saif and Kunal mentioned that the pay cheque is largely driven by box office economics and audience demand rather than gender.

During the interaction, Saif mentioned that actors who hold a similar stature deserve to be paid equally. However, he acknowledged that the industry’s pay structure is largely influenced by a star’s ability to pull audiences to theatres.

Saif said, “If the actors are of equal stature, they should be paid the same amount. But I also feel the economics work in a certain way. If you are putting people in seats in the theatre, you get paid accordingly. Everyone understands that relationship.”

He further explained that the system is not designed to favour one gender, but instead is a reflection of an actor’s market value and box-office pull.

Saif added, “It’s not like just because you are a certain gender you deserve to be paid more or less. It’s actually a very balanced economic system where people are clear that this person is a superstar because they are filling theatres. They know their worth, charge that price and get paid.”

Here, Kunal elaborated on the “maths” behind how actors’ remunerations are determined in the industry, noting that distributors estimated a film’s recovery prospects based on the star power attached to a project.

“There is a maths to it. This is the mathematical part, not whether a film will work or not — that’s a different thing. Earlier, distributors knew that if I have this actor, I can sell a territory for a certain amount of money and that becomes part of the recovery,” he said.

Saif’s upcoming project

Saif is the son of veteran actor Sharmila Tagore. He is married to actor Kareena Kapoor. Saif will next be seen in Netflix’s period drama Hum Hindustani, which chronicles the behind-the-scenes story of India’s first democratic election. The film also stars Pratik Gandhi and is directed by Rahul Dholakia. The release date is yet to be announced. Saif also has Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan in the pipeline, co-starring Akshay Kumar. The film has wrapped filming, with its release date awaited. Last year, Saif was seen in Netflix's film Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins.