Men never questioned for zeroes on their pay cheques: Priyanka Chopra

Rs5 crore for a five-minute performance at an awards event? Actress Priyanka Chopra says she finds such talk "funny" as the boys, who get "ridiculous" number of zeroes on their cheques, are never asked such questions.

Priyanka is the only female who made it to the Top 10 in Forbes India Celebrity List 2017 with an earning of Rs68 crore.

The actress was at the Penguin Annual Lecture on Tuesday, 26 December, when she spoke about how her dream has always been about achieving the intangible joy of leaving behind a legacy.

"It's not about whether I want a car or want so many zeros on my cheque. For me, it has always been bigger than that... There's a bigger picture," she said.

So, do those zeroes matter?

"Yes. Because I work very hard for them. And I wasn't born with a silver spoon, though my parents always gave me one. I always worked very hard to be where I am and I think each one of us deserves to be compensated for it."

Chopra, who has carved a niche for herself in Hollywood with her role in the American TV show Quantico, said she is "extremely proud" of being the only woman in a men's only top 10 list.

"But it was funny because there are so many people who talk about the kind of numbers that I apparently get for certain minutes of my time," she said, taking a dig at reports that she charged Rs5 crore for her five-minute performance at the Zee Cine Awards earlier this month in Mumbai.

"The boys are never asked this question. Their zeroes are ridiculous. Have you even seen the zeroes that they get on their cheques? We should be celebrating that at least there's one girl who has gone out there," she added.

Raising a question on gender pay gap, the Unicef goodwill ambassador said: "I am very proud of myself that I have had the ability to work so hard that I can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with my male counterparts in the top 10 of India, but at the same time, there's a question — why is there just one of me when there are so many of them in that industry."

The actress, who looked bright and lovely in a shocking pink jumpsuit, delivered a motivational lecture at the Siri Fort Auditorium, which had full attendance. She received a standing ovation for being what she called her "witty and sassy" style of interacting with people.

During her lecture, she shared "PC's 12 rules of being the best version of yourself", urging fans to be greedy for ambitions, to not compromise, to fail and rise like a phoenix and to always remember where you came from, among other things.