Sexism is one of the burning problems in the film industry right now. No matter how much our female actors have grown, they are still behind the male actor in terms of pay, time and respect. Kangana’s video for AIB was one form of showing the way industry performs. We hear female actors telling they are grateful the male co-star treated them with such respect, why thank for something mandatory. Because the industry had made them feel they don’t deserve it and when someone does it, they feel grateful. Such is the condition, even in the current scenario. Leading actors who have achieved far more than any of their male counterparts still face the same problem.

In a Times of India interview, Vidya spoke how when they called her the hero of the film, she started feeling vindicated and how sexism runs wild in Bollywood, still. She said, that “when people tell me that you do women-centric films, I keep saying that I am the centre of my universe and I am a woman, so I am drawn to these films. I really believe that I am equal in every way. And it is not about saying. I really believe it, deep down. Which is why, after a while, even the set-up of the conventional film began to bother me.”

She soon shared what bothered her,

“There was a film, in which I was playing the bigger role, and the male lead was getting paid more. And that bothered me. Because I am playing the bigger role! I am putting in more effort! I am not asking you to pay me for nothing, but you can’t pay him double of what you are paying me. I am not putting in any less effort if at all, I am putting in more effort.”