Throwback - When Mandakini revealed the truth of male-dominated film industry: “Heroes hi mostly decide karte the kinke saath kaam karna hai..”

Several actors rose to fame right after their very first movie; however, the stardom that Mandakini tasted can’t be explained in mere words. Mandakini, original name Yasmeen Joseph, made her debut in Bollywood in 1985 with the film ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ opposite Rajiv Kapoor. Her beauty left a lasting impression, and she became a household name in no time. Yet, her charm couldn’t immune her from the male-dominated film industry, where she a couple of times she was rejected only because a hero didn’t want to work with her.Around two years back, in an interview with a news portal, Mandakini got candid about Bollywood’s work ethics back in the 1980s. She spoke about lower pay and the male dominance in the industry. "Heroes hi mostly decide karte the kinke saath kaam karna hai, kinke saath nahi. Ek aisa time bhi tha. Agar koi unko ladki pasand nahi hai toh who bolte the ‘nahi inko mat lo. Dusre ko le lo, (Male actors would majorly decide whom they would want to work with and whom not. If they didn’t like a girl, then they would ask to replace her)," shared Mandakini in an old interview with Pinkvilla.When the interviewer further probed if she personally faced something like this, the actress replied, “Yes, once or twice.”Mandakini further revealed that for a whole movie, an actress was given a maximum of Rs 2 Lakhs. That was the highest quotation back in those days. Sharing an anecdote from her own experience, she mentioned, “Someone narrated a movie, and I accepted. Just within 2-3 days, they would announce the movie with someone else."When Mandakini asked the reason from her manager behind losing the project, he quoted that while they quoted Rs 1 Lakh for the movie, the makers got another actress for just Rs. 75K. The actress mentioned that all these practices were quite common during her time, and she had had firsthand experience of all these things.