Deepika Padukone, who has remained in the news throughout this year largely for her vocal stance against unorganised work hours, particularly for female actors, has once again spoken out about the issue. Discussing the challenges new mothers face in the industry, she emphasised how the idea of being overworked is normalised, and said that this needs to change. “I feel strongly about how new mothers need to be supported when they return to work. That’s something I want to focus on,” she said.
In a chat with Harper’s Bazaar, she said, “We’ve normalised overworking. We mistake burnout for commitment. Eight hours of work a day is enough for the human body and mind. Only when you’re healthy can you give your best. Bringing a burnt-out person back into the system helps no one.” Deepika said that at her office, they follow a strict 5-day and 8-hour work policy with sufficient maternity and paternity breaks. “In my own office, we work eight hours a day, Monday to Friday. We have maternity and paternity policies. We should normalise bringing children to work.,” she said.
Reflecting on how motherhood has changed her, she said, “One hundred per cent. Every cliché is true. When mothers say, ‘You’ll understand when you become one,’ it’s true. I have so much more respect for my mother now. You can plan how you think you’ll navigate work and motherhood, but the reality is very different.”
Earlier this year, in a conversation with Brut India, Deepika had explained that her demand for eight-hour workdays was not “ridiculously unfair” and highlighted the challenging conditions on film sets. “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 said.
In another interview with CNBC-TV18, she spoke about the gender bias female actors face. “By virtue of being a woman, if that’s coming across as being pushy or whatever, then so be it. But it is 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 do not work on weekends,” she said.
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This ongoing discourse came into the spotlight earlier this year when Deepika exited Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit, co-starring Prabhas, after her request for an eight-hour workday was denied. The controversy reignited a few months later when it was publicly announced that she would not be returning as Sumathi for the next installment of Kalki 2898 AD.
Throughout this period, several prominent figures, including Vikrant Massey, Kajol, Saif Ali Khan, Neha Dhupia, Mani Ratnam, Vinay Pathak, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Kabir Khan, have publicly supported Deepika’s call for standardised eight-hour shifts on sets.
