After Deepika Padukone’s exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit and Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD sequel over her 8-hours work demand, many in the film industry have voiced their opinions. Recently, Konkona Sen Sharma weighed in on the debate and backed Deepika, calling her ‘progressive’ for raising the right concerns about fair working conditions for women and technicians in the industry.
When asked what’s the first thing that comes to her mind when she hears Deepika’s name, Konkona told Filmygyan, “I feel she is very progressive, and we need many more people like her.”
Talking about Deepika’s demand for a fixed eight-hour shift, Konkona added, “I think there should be some rules in the industry. We can’t work for 14-15 hours. We should have a 12-hour turnaround. We should have at least one day off in the week, especially for the technicians. It should be equal. It shouldn’t be like male actors are coming late and are working late and women are leaving their children and working for long hours. It should be equal.”
In an earlier interaction, Deepika had pointed out that demanding an eight-hour workday was not “ridiculously unfair” and implied that working conditions on film sets were often far from ideal — even for someone like her, who is a “top star” — and much 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. And 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.
She also pointed out how many male actors have long enjoyed eight-hour shifts without controversy. “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 a 8-hour shift for years and it’s never made headlines,” she said.
Deepika had exited Spirit, following which Vanga replaced her with Triptii Dimri over the eight-hour shift demand and other conditions. After her exit, Vanga shared a cryptic tweet implying that Deepika had rejected his film’s script and accused her of playing “dirty PR games.”
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Soon after, Deepika also exited another major project — the sequel to Kalki 2898 AD, directed by Nag Ashwin. Her exit was officially announced by Vyjayanthi Movies on X (formerly Twitter), stating that they were “unable to find a partnership” and that the film deserved “commitment and much more,” implying that Deepika wasn’t willing to fully commit to the project.
Right after her Kalki 28989 AD exit was announced, Deepika took to Instagram to share a photo with Shah Rukh Khan, officially announcing her role in the superstar’s next film, The King.
