Deepika Padukone’s exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Spirit’ and Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD’s sequel around the same time led to many speculations about her demands from the producers. It was said that Deepika had asked for an eight-hour workday, which was unacceptable to the producers and led to her exit from the projects.
Now, the actress has spoken up about the same and in the interview, Deepika categorically said that male actors in the film industry have been following eight-hour workdays for a very long time, but that has never been the cause of any controversy.
Deepika started by saying that her demand for eight-hour workdays was not ‘ridiculously unfair’ and implied that the working conditions on a film set aren’t hospitable for someone like her, who is a ‘top star’ and even worse for the crew. “I don’t think what I am asking for is ridiculously unfair and I think only someone who has worked in the system enough will know the conditions that we work in. I am saying this, if I may say so myself, a top star, so you can only imagine what the working conditions must be like for everyone else, for the crew, for example,” she told ‘Brut India’.
Deepika was asked if she was labelled as ‘too difficult’ for making such demands, which are seen as ‘pretty basic’ everywhere else and she immediately brought up how male actors have been practising this for years. “I am not the first one who has asked for something like this. In fact, there are a lot of actors - male actors - who have been working on an eight-hour shift for years and it’s never made headlines,” she said.
When Deepika was directly asked if this was a ‘gender thing’, she said, “I wouldn’t know if it’s a gender thing or not.” She added, “But what I can definitely say is I am definitely advocating for a better work-life balance and a better working environment and better working conditions and if that doesn’t work for somebody, we’re not obligated to work with each other.”
In another interview with ‘CNBC 18’, she added about the eight-hour shift demand, “By virtue of being a woman, if that’s coming across as being pushy or whatever, then so be it. But it’s no secret that a lot of superstars - male superstars - in the Indian film industry have been working for eight hours for years and it’s never made headlines. A lot of them only work for eight hours Monday to Friday. They don’t work on weekends.”