Pay disparity has been a theme in the film industry in India. While it was more prevalent in the earlier days the industry has evolved too. There days several actresses like Kareena Kapoor Deepika Padukone Bhumi Pednekar Shefali shah Lara Dutta and others have spoken about the pay gap. Earlier heroes were paid more than the heroines irrespective for the screen time or experience. However there was one actress who bot just climbed the ladder of success but also reportedly charged more than the heroes. This actress began her career as a child artist. Her name is Urmila Matondkar. Child Artist to Top Actress Urmila Matondkar made her screen debut at the age of nine with B.R. Chopras Karm that was released in 1977. She further worked in other films including popular works like Shyam Benegals crime Kalyug (1980) Shekhar Kapurs drama Masoom (1983) etc. However her first film as the lead actress was not in Hindi cinema but Malayalam. It was in 1989 in T. K. Rajeev Kumars Malayalam blockbuster Chanakyan opposite Kamal Haasan. Her Bollywoods debut was with N. Chandras 1991 action drama Narsimha alongside Sunny Deol and Dimple Kapadhia. What shot her o becoming an overnight star was her feature in Ram Gopal Varmas Rangeela. Soon she gave several hit films and rose the career towards success. Reportedly she astrated charging more fees tha her male counterparts. However there was one point when she started having her downfall. Rumours were rife about her relationship with director Ram Gap Varma. Reported alleged the duo also had a fall out which affected her career as well. She married Kashmir based businessman and model Mohsin Akhtar Mir on 3 March 2016.[14][15] In 2024 Matondkar filed for divorce from Mir after eight years of marriage