As she responds to the pay disparity in Bollywood, Kajol mentions SRK’s Pathaan

Indian cinema will see wage equity when a movie like “Wonder Woman” is produced for Indian viewers and achieves as big of a box office success as “Pathaan,” said star Kajol on Thursday. She had come to the city’s capital to take part in the opening ceremony of the 2023 Jagran Film Festival.

Kajol’s original remark when asked when salary equality would be reached in the film business was, “Ask an astrologer.” The actor continued by claiming that social media and access to international information via streamers had made consumers “much more literate today.” “India is developing…Thanks to social media and OTT, they see a wide variety of films. Better ideas are what we are hoping for. Maybe there will be wage equity when you start producing films like “Wonder Woman” (starring Gal Gadot) for India that do as good as “Pathaan,” she said.

Kajol, who most recently appeared in the Disney+ Hotstar series The Trial: Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha, also said that she almost collaborated with renowned filmmaker Mani Ratnam on a project. However, because she had given her dates to director Karan Johar for the 1998 film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, nothing happened. “At the time I was due to start filming for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mani Ratnam offered me a role in one of his movies. First of all, I didn’t think Mr. Ratnam had made me an offer. However, since I had given Karan those dates for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, things didn’t work out. Many people told me that I should have worked on Mani Sir’s movie. I thought my commitment was more significant at the moment, and I was right,” she recounted.

The 48-year-old actress was asked to decide between her two well-known roles, Simran from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Anjali from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and she chose the latter. The actress then said that Anjali would be sporting a rapper’s outfit and track trousers if she had been penning the character’s progression.

“Today, you might argue that Anjali shouldn’t have worn a sari or question why Rahul didn’t fall for her while she was wearing tracksuit bottoms. You are free to raise these questions today, yet the Raj and Anjali of that era may have fallen in love due to this same reason. The notion of love has evolved with the times, she said. Speaking on evolving times, Kajol said that owing to the accessibility made possible by social media, movie stars have lost their mystique.

The world is social media-based. Movie stars no longer gleam brightly in the sky; instead, they now mingle with us. They have been grounded since. The largest difference, in my opinion, is that. It works in a manner. It’s something we’ve kind of lost, really. Depending on how you see it, maybe. In terms of movies, it will always mirror society, she said. The JFF is taking place at Siri Fort Auditorium in the nation’s capital from August 3 to August 6. It will show more than 55 films from across the world that cover a variety of genres, languages, and subjects.