Amid the recent turmoil in the Indian film industry following the release of the Hema Committee report in Kerala detailing harassment and pay disparity, actor Ram Kapoor said that gender equality is not necessary in the industry.
“I don’t think gender equality needs to really happen in the entertainment industry, because every industry has a certain dynamic, and that dynamic has been chosen by the audience,” Kapoor told Hindustan Times.
Kapoor added that he does not question why, in Bollywood, heroes are always more important than heroines.
The Bade Achhe Lagte Hain actor pointed out that women are usually the main lead on the small screen. “For 15 years, I was part of the television industry where the female lead is much bigger than the male lead. On the small screen, it is all about Tulsi and Parvati. The male lead is the second fiddle to the female. But, in those entire 15 years, I never cared about male gender economy there.”
Kapoor said he is fine with the way things are when it comes his female counterparts dominating the small screens. “I have been a part of an industry where the females have dominated and I have been totally okay with that. You know why? Because it is the audience who wanted that. Whether it’s Bollywood, where males are doing better, or television where the females are doing better, it doesn’t matter to me.”
The 51-year-old said that the feminist movement is one-sided and it does not speak up when it comes to disparity against men. He cited the example of modelling world. “Everybody knows about Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. Does anyone remember a single male model of that time?” he asked.
Ram Kapoor’s latest project is the recently released TV series Khalbali Records, directed by Devanshu Singh.
