Deepika Padukone’s 8-hour work shift advocacy has led to a wider debate in the industry. While several celebs sided with her stand, others condemned her demand, terming it as a mandate for an acting career. Now, veteran actor Paintal has weighed in on the limited working hours condition. Popular for films like Bawarchi (1972) and Piya Ka Ghar (1972), he recalled sticking to 8-hour work shifts during his era while shifts later became 10 hour-long. In a recent interview, he also revealed that TV actors still have to shoot for 14 hours a day, documented in their contracts officially.
During a conversation with Vickey Lalwani, Paintal was asked to reflect upon Deepika’s 8-hour a day shift demand, and he replied, “Filmmaking is a creative job and creative work has its own requirements. Creative mind is not physically tiring, its mentally and emotionally tiring. In our old time, we used to have 8-hour shifts. However, if it is important to extend – an actor isn’t available the next day, a set is being removed, or any other reason, we would do an extension sometimes.”
He further added, “But now, I don’t know who is responsible, but they have made it a 12-hour shift in the industry. A 12-hour shift can become physically tiring, specially for women, kids, and the elderly. It can be managed by youngsters, but they also get tired these days. If I tell you the latest thing, in the television industry, the 12-hour shift has also become 14 now, that too, on paper. They lock the money on the basis of shifts, which means per shift is of 14 hours. Can you imagine?”
The veteran actor, who was recently seen in a brief stint in Rajan Shahi’s famous television show Anupamaa, admitted that the long hours can sometimes get too much for an actor. “An actor who is playing a character has to be physically present, remain fresh, do emotional scenes, enjoy, and show up the next day again for 14 hours. I used to shoot in Naigaon, did a recent shoot for 2-3 months. I used to leave at 7am and reach by 8:30, get my makeup done and used to packed up at 10pm. After driving home, I used to reach at 11:30 and sleep by 1am, and then the same schedule again the very next day,” he shared.
Paintal called Deepika Padukone’s demand absolutely right and said, “After doing all this, how can you expect quality performance? Actors agree to this exploitation because work is already being offered less. This 12-hour thing has been going on since years, even in films. Akshay Kumar can say that I won’t do for 12 hours, others can’t. Stars can afford that, but if Paintal says that, they will ask me to sit at home.”
Actor-comedian Kanwarjit Paintal played the role of Anupamaa’s (Rupali Ganguly) dance guru Pandit Manohar Sharma.
