Actress Nyrraa Banerji, in an exclusive conversation with The Free Press Journal, opened up about the issue of pay disparity in the entertainment industry and shared her perspective on how an actor's career choices often determine their remuneration.
Nyrraa made her acting debut in 2010 with the Telugu film Saradaga Kasepu. Over the years, she has been a part of several Bollywood and regional films as well as Hindi television and reality shows.
Speaking about the importance of pay parity, Nyrraa said, "If you are a very strong actor or performer, it shouldn’t matter. It actually depends on what particular roles that actor has done. If me and my hero are playing equal, if we have equal fights, equal dance numbers, and equal scenes, it means I am playing a very strong role and not just dancing around. In such cases, I should be paid equally."
Opening up about her own journey, she added, "I have faced situations where I did smaller roles in big films and got paid less, while in projects where both the hero and I had equally strong parts, we were paid the same. It really depends on how you’ve carried your career."
Nyrraa emphasised that pay parity should be based on contribution, not gender, saying, "If you’re giving me three fights and two dance numbers - equal to what the hero is doing - then why should I be paid less?"
On the work front, Nyrraa is gearing up for the release of her Hindi film One Two Cha Cha Chaa which also stars Lalit Prabhakar, Anant Joshi, Ashutosh Rana, Abhimanyu Singh, Mukesh Tiwari and others.
