HOW PRIYANKA CHOPRA'S PRODUCTION HOUSE CREATING A GENDER-NEUTRAL WORKPLACE

Gender inequality is something which is still prevalent in many countries. Talking about India, it is no exception. But Priyanka Chopra and her mother Madhu Chopra took a strong stand against it providing a gender-neutral environment for their employees in their production house 'Purple Pebble Picture.' This is a major issue faced by the women even in modern day and in order to give a comfortable workplace to the employees Purple Pebble Picture has taken strict actions that there should be a rider in their contract for their artistes that gender will not be one of the determining factors in their remuneration.

Priyanka's mother is one of the important and integral part of Priyanka's production house. Madhu Chopra stated to a leading daily, "The pay scale is determined by the merit, qualification and talent. So there are different parameters, but gender is definitely not one of them. We believe in gender equality and that applies to remuneration too."

"We have women story writers, directors and camera technicians. So in every aspect of filmmaking, we are encouraging women. Although I would reiterate that we give equal opportunity, there is a certain bias towards women at the moment because they are marginalised and we have to give them an additional push."

Talking about making women-centric films, Madhu added, "Female-centric stories make the most impact on people. Everyone knows that women are strong enough to be talked about. The impact that I am expecting is that women will rise from where they have been put and walk shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts."

Priyanka Chopra is majorly interested in producing more women-oriented stories, directed by women filmmakers. Their recently wrapped-up film Firebrand was a National Award winner, which was also directed by a female director Aruna Raje.