Raashii Khanna bats for closing the gender pay gap among film stars

MUMBAI: Actress Raashii Khanna, who recently featured in the Tamil comedy horror film 'Aranmanai 4', feels it is high time art is judged by the way it is made, and not by who all is in it.

Raashii and her co-star Tamannaah Bhatia attended a special press meet on Wednesday in Mumbai ahead of the release of 'Aranmanai 4' in Hindi.

The female-led film has already collected Rs 100 crore down South, demonstrating the growing acceptance and appreciation for women-centric narratives.

The 'Madras Cafe' fame actress said: "It is a validation for all of us as female actors that we can hold a film on our shoulders and deliver. For that, we need filmmakers like Sundar C Sir who believe in us. Also, I believe art and cinema should not be bound by gender."

"It is high time we treat it like that. Films like 'Article 370', 'Crew' and now our film have proven that women are far ahead just like men. Art should be judged by the way it is made and not by who is in it. Also, we should get better pay cheques because there is a huge gap. I hope that happens in time," she added.

Directed by Sundar C, 'Aranmanai 4' also stars Sundar himself, alongside Santhosh Prathap, Ramachandra Raju, Kovai Sarala, and Delhi Ganesh, among others. It is produced by Khushbu Sundar under the banner of Avni Cinemax.

The Hindi version is scheduled to release in the theatres on May 31.

On the work front, Rashii also has ‘The Sabarmati Report’, ‘Telusu Kada’, and ‘Methavi’ in the pipeline.