Is Ayesha Omar part of a new crop of actresses who know how to negotiate for fair pay? —Photo courtesy: magtheweekly.com “Most artists in Pakistan don’t have a representative. Ayesha Omar has blown up so she’s now started looking for one, but she herself knows how to get what she wants. She’s not scared to say she wants a first class flight, certain food, not to have to sit in a certain place, and a certain amount of money if she works extra days.”
But is negotiating for equal pay the job of an actress alone or should her male costars be taking a leaf from the book of Bradley Cooper and opt to share their financials with her to ensure everyone gets paid equally and fairly?
For Humayun Saeed the answer is no.
“I would never ask female costars to share their financials with me. I ask for an amount because I feel I deserve it, and the producers pay me that amount because they agree with me. If any of my female costars charge more than me, more power to them!”
Is the time ripe for an actors' union? All four artists interviewed hint at the need for a formal union to oversee and regulate the rights of all actors irrespective of whether they are one or more of the male, female, senior, junior, lead, supporting pigeonholes that artists can be slotted into.
Atiqa Odho thinks she has the solution.
“We are maturing as a trade,” points out Odho who is currently spearheading a group of Lollywood stars rallying to create a formal actors union “ACT” that will confront all issues including gender wage disparity.
“Hollywood has the Actors Guild and SAG. We need to bring sense and system into our trade instead of working as artists in our own individual capacity with no rules to the game,” says Odho who has never shied away from righting wrongs and using the law as her shield (she speaks candidly of “many times suing individuals and multinationals for mistreating talent”).
Of supporting the creation of an actor's union, Atiqa Odho says: "It’s not only about ensuring actors are paid and paid equally. It’s about improving the business, the ethics and the quality of our programming.” “People have asked me why actors in this country feel the need to unionize. I ask them ‘If an actor lets you down by not showing up or being committed — supposing you are producer or a network — don’t you want to have a place to go? It’s not only about ensuring actors are paid and paid equally. It’s about improving the business, the ethics and the quality of our programming,” says Odho.
ACT is in its infancy. There’s still a year and a half to go before the union can apply for a trade license, which would grant it recognition (and legitimacy) in the eyes of the Government of Pakistan.
For the average reader it may seem churlish for an industry to demand equal pay when the difference in getting paid is $8 million instead of $10 million. But it’s important that actresses speak out against the system by demanding their right to commensurate wages.
Making a lot of money shouldn’t be a bar to asking for more money and, frankly, actresses enjoy a platform and position of power from which they can make the specter of equal pay an important issue not just for the already rich and famous but for all women.
“Women have always given in and they have not stood up against [unequal pay] individually or collectively. If they do not agree with what they are being paid, they can just refuse to do the project until they are paid what they want. Women demand far less than what they deserve and so are paid accordingly — they need to know their own worth and not settle for anything less than what their worth is,” notes Saeed.
“Things are changing. A large number of well-educated actors and actresses have the desire for things to be run more professionally. A certain work ethic is taking shape and we are working towards developing better working conditions and standardized contracts that will benefit the industry as a whole,” points out a cautiously optimistic Bayat.
It’s a globally acknowledged fact that virtually every industry in the world (save for modeling and porn) pays women less than their male counterparts.
In fact, the lowest paid actor on this year’s Forbes’ Top 20 list (Matt Damon at $25 million) would be third on an equivalent actresses’ list.
Similarly, even though 2014 was the Year of Women in Bollywood, with box office hits and packed cinema houses for female-centric films like Queen, Mary Kom and Mardaani, India’s current most highly paid actress Deepika Padukone (who signed a film for 70m rupees), is still making a tenth of her male costars.
The actor dismissed claims that a gender-based wage gap exists in Bollywood, and in harsh words, too
The only bright spot in all this misogyny? Mawra's refusal to allow a man to shame her or invalidate her opinions