Perhaps it’s a sign of changing times that Bollywood’s top heroines are sticking their necks out to point out this disparity. Kareena Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are just some of the stars who have expressed their opinions on the matter. Needless to say, they stand to benefit the most if and when the disparity ends.

But that doesn’t devalue their opinions. If anything, it should tell us that these stars are embodying a newfound confidence in a male-dominated industry. That begs the question: