‘Lady Superstar’ Nayanthara is discovering what it means to ‘upset’ a male superstar. Actor-director Dhanush K Raja seems intent on teaching her a lesson—not only must one contend with the gender pay gap in the film industry, whether in the North or South, but one must also be careful never to bruise the male ego. Nayanthara apparently failed to comply, and now faces a legal notice from Dhanush’s lawyer demanding Rs 10 crore for using a three-second clip from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in her upcoming Netflix documentary about her life.
Dhanush, the producer of the 2015 film, allegedly “hated” Nayanthara’s performance—for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. But then the South Indiana actress made the mistake of acknowledging this during her acceptance speech, sincerely apologising to Dhanush for disappointing him. Nearly a decade later, she is learning how male superstars cannot let go of perceived public slights.
It was Dhanush who had unintentionally played Cupid on the sets of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan where Nayanthara fell in love with director Vignesh Shivan. Now, things have taken a turn — legal notices, open letters, and statuses are being shared. This also goes on to show how a female star has to rely on the whims and anger of a powerful male star or star maker.
Bollywood, too, has had its share of ‘fallouts’. Kareena Kapoor Khan demanded equal fees as her male co-star Shah Rukh Khan when she was offered the lead role in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2008). Karan Johar, the producer of the film, was so upset at her audacity of wanting the same pay as her co-star that he promptly replaced her with Preity Zinta. And he has been proudly making jokes about it in various shows.
The gender pay gap in India is a massive issue, and no one, including the most powerful stars in the entertainment industry, with millions of fans, are immune to it. The phenomenon plays out in various scenarios, if not simply in fees. Nayanthara points out in her open letter to Dhanush that she is “a self-made woman with no links in the industry and someone who had to struggle my way to the position I hold today”. Even though Kareena is part of one of the most powerful families in Bollywood, the Kapoors, she could not get her due. So where does a star like Nayanthara stand? The answer, at the moment, is crystal clear: in the fact that Dhanush fans have already started attacking Nayanthara’s ‘character’.
Dhanush’s upper hand
Let’s take a look at Nayanthara’s statement where she calls out Dhanush’s privilege. The South Indian actor makes a whopping Rs 35-30 crore per film, along with being the former son-in-law of superstar Rajinikanth. He is also the son of director Kasthuri Raja. In an industry where building connections have a lot of weightage, Dhanush, along with his acting skills, definitely has had an upper hand.
Nayanthara, too, is one of the highest-paid female actors in the South film industry and charges Rs 5-10 crores per film. But most female actors get paid marginally less than their male counterparts, even if they do the same number of films, or even have as many blockbusters. After all, we still call some films ‘female-led films’, while one with a male star playing a significant part, or with more screen time, is just a film.
Nayanthara is hardly the first one to make money off her wedding by making a documentary on it. But Dhanush’s reported delaying of his decision to allow the clips, or sending a legal notice instead of sorting it out with a fellow actor, does reek of both arrogance and a bad faith that’s easily avoidable.
Teaching Nayanthara a lesson
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, produced by Dhanush, reportedly went over the budget by Rs 12 crore, and Nayanthara-Shivan’s budding romance was to blame due to shoot delays and occasional hiccups. But Dhanush also made a lot of money because the movie was one of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year. Any losses were already recovered; and if not, he could have asked for it back then, instead of festering it for nearly a decade. The movie was a boost in the career of everyone involved, from Shivan and Vijay Sethupathi to Nayanthara and Dhanush.
Revenue sharing is still a complicated situation in the entertainment industry, where once again, male stars can still ask for profit sharing or other benefits in their contracts. Female actors are still asking for just equal remuneration. But heaven forbid if a woman wants to capitalise on her stardom. She needs to be dragged through the mud. Dhanush is teaching Nayanthara a lesson for daring to not just ‘upset’ him but also wanting money. She had even mentioned it in seeming jest in her Filmfare Award acceptance speech in 2016. And never mind that Nayanthara had actually done a song for Dhanush for free in one of his films.
Her post was shared by Parvathy Thirovothu and liked by actor Shruti Haasan and producer Ekta R Kapoor. A few of Dhanush’s former co-stars, too, have liked the post. Of course, ‘liking’ a post is easier than extending actual support. But it still counts, especially when concerns raised by a female actor in any aspect are usually met with silence.
Most likely, though, it is a losing battle for Nayanthara. And it would hardly be surprising.
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(Edited by Humra Laeeq)
Well written.
fake news pedd;ller couptaji and his equally demented side kicks…nayana tara has already monetised her stardom when she took money to act in the film.
Now dhanush wiull monetise it as producer. You and your fake woke feminazi thoights
How did Dhanush become a hero in the first place?
My office errand boy looks more handsome than him.
South Indian film industries are a cesspool. Idiotic scripts with lame storylines. All male actors are “stars”, “superstars”, “megastars” and what not.
The fun part is that none of them can even be termed as moderately handsome. As far as looks are concerned, they fare much worse than the gatekeepers and security personnel of residential complexes here in Delhi. Even the milkman in our society has much better looks than these idiots.
The only reason they are able to rule the southern film industry is because of nepotism. They are the sons of famous “stars”, “megastars” and “superstars” of the yesteryears.
Needless to say, these are some of the most misogynistic folks on the planet.