Parineeti Chopra Draws Flak for Saying Beauty, Hair Commercials Compensate for Unequal Pay

There's been much discussion in recent years about gender pay parity in Bollywood. Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and other actresses have candidly spoken out about the wage gap that persists between men and women in the film industry.

As debate about how to close the gender wage gap continues, actress Parineeti Chopra says she doesn’t talk about it because she feels women make up for it by doing more endorsements than men.

During her appearance on Film Companion's Tapecast, where she was promoting her upcoming film Jabariya Jodi along with co-star Sidharth Malhotra, the actress said, “I always felt like I deserved a little bit more but I only got this much. But then we make it up with endorsements. Girls do a lot of endorsements so we kind of make it up. So that is why I never talk about it (pay parity) because the boys don’t do as many endorsements as girls. I hope I’m right. We do so many beauty commercials and hair commercials like so many brands and I think we kind of cover it up.”

At a time when actors-- both male and female-- around the world are making a stand for gender pay parity in the film industry, Parineeti's statement has come as a shock for many.

The actress has been facing severe criticism on social media, with a section of the Internet calling her "dumb".

One user wrote: "I can’t sympathise with her anymore. Blame it on her dumb behavior and her poor choice of films." Another said, "What a shallow understanding you have unlike ur(your) cousin Priyanka Chopra."

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