'No pay parity between male, female actors'

Feeling positive

Sharmila Tagore feels while it is a good change that female actors are getting better roles written for them today, the disparity in remuneration of actors and actresses needs to be looked into.

“There is no parity and male actors are still getting more while the women are getting less which needs to change,” Tagore told PTI.

The veteran was all praise for movies likes Kahaani and Piku, saying they reflect the changed perception about women in mainstream Indian cinema.

“The general perception about women in Indian cinema is definitely changing and that can be noticed in films like Piku, Kahani and in Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do,” she said.

“In my time we were given secondary roles and that is now changing. Take Deepika’s role in Piku, where being a woman she looks after her father. There was a time when it would not have been accepted but now people have accepted it. I think the audience have started accepting that women can earn and simultaneously look after their parents,” she said.

According to Tagore, the distribution and marketing of regional movies has improved and that is the reason why they are currently doing good business and their market has expanded.

“With movies released at multiplexes, watching good films has caught up with the audience. Earlier, it was difficult to release budget films when a big film was running in the halls. This is not the case today,”she said.

Tagore, 70, is the chairperson of the jury for the international competition at the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF).

Hailing KIFF as a “better organised” film festival, the actress said, “Things are much more organised and the Kolkata film festival is doing very well.”

Talking about the 14 films for the international competition, she said, “Till now we have seen five movies and we are very happy. These are films by women directors on poverty, disability and domestic violence.”