Disappointing a lot of things haven’t come out: Radhika Apte on #MeToo movement

PTI, Dec 17, 2019, 3:48 PM IST

Mumbai: Actor Radhika Apte believes the #MeToo movement just came and went in Bollywood with many things in the industry still remaining unchanged.

The #MeToo movement gained momentum in India last year with women calling out actors, filmmakers, comedians, authors, and journalists.

When asked what were the things she liked or hated about the decade, Radhika said, “Me Too movement came and went. It is disappointing. A lot of things that should’ve changed have not changed. A lot of things have not come out, have not changed. That’s really disappointing,”

The actor said another issue which still hasn’t changed, is that of pay disparity. “There’s no pay parity at all. We don’t need to talk about pay parity like ‘should this A list actress get few more crores than a male A list actor.’ It’s not just that. If an A list actor is getting you that sure shot three crores of money, he should be getting paid more money, talking in broader strokes.

“But apart from the A-lister, the rest of the cast and crew is also made up of men and women. We don’t have parity there. There’s no excuse to not have parity there. They don’t affect your box office at all,” she said at the Times Network India Economic Conclave.

Giving an example, the “Sacred Games” actor said, “Suppose somebody plays someone’s father and mother, still the father gets paid more money than the mother! There’s absolutely no logic to that.”

Radhika said one of the wonderful things to have happened is a more female representation on set. “What has changed, is a lot of women behind the camera as technicians. Directors, writers, producers, editors, cinematographers. The crew has a lot of women and that’s a very good sign,” she added.