Deepika Padukone is at the centre of an 8-hour shift debate in the film industry. After stepping away from two major films, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Spirit’ and Nag Ashwin’s ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ sequel, the actor faced massive trolling for reportedly demanding shorter work hours.But what many don’t realise is that Deepika Padukone’s stand isn’t new. Long before this controversy, the ‘Om Shanti Om’ star had already spoken about the need for fixed working hours, overtime pay, healthy food, and mental health support for crew members.
When Deepika Padukone spoke for crew members
Back in 2022, in an interview with Film Companion, the ‘Om Shanti Om’ actress strongly emphasised the need to fix working hours, especially for film crews, and spoke about compensating them for extra time spent on set. She said, “I will begin with the hours that we work, especially for the crew. There is this sense that if you make people work extra work over time and continuously, you get it done faster. My thinking is the exact opposite, if you give people enough downtime and rest, they come back with better energy. That helps them work faster, and the quality of the output is far better. One thing I could do differently is this.”
Deepika Padukone on overtime pay for crews
The ‘Chennai Express’ actress also spoke about how crew members should be fairly paid for the extra hours they work. She explained, “Step 2 is to be compensated for overtime. Actors still feel it is my film at the end of the day…Actors, at the end of the day, are going to walk away with the awards and the rewards, and so do the directors and everyone above board. But I think the crew come in much earlier and they leave much later. So, there would be some days where you would do overtime and some technical issues or something else might happen, but then we need to find a mechanism that they are at least compensated for the overtime, on the hourly basis.”
Deepika Padukone stresses need for nutritious food
The ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’, further talked about the importance of serving good, healthy food to the crew, calling it a small but meaningful step. She said, “Number 3, I think the kind of food that the crew is served, nutritious food needs to be served to them. This is a very small thing, but I feel that if you keep the crew happy and feed them well, they will go out of their way.”The ‘Love Aaj Kal’ actress also mentioned that the mental well-being of both actors and technicians should be taken seriously. She shared, “The other thing that I want to do is to have a mental health expert on the set for anybody for actor or technicians. Or least share a helpline number of a consultant to everyone whom they can talk to.”
Deepika Padukone on the work front
Padukone has begun filming for Siddharth Anand’s ‘King’, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan, Suhana Khan, and Abhishek Bachchan. She will also be seen in Atlee’s upcoming project ‘AA22xA6’ alongside Allu Arjun.
