Last year, Deepika Padukone sparked a major discourse in Bollywood after she advocated for an 8-hour workday to support work-life balance and new mothers. That debate has resurfaced in a conversation on Soha Ali Khan‘s podcast, where she spoke with husband Kunal Kemmu and brother Saif Ali Khan. Kunal had some reservations on the subject and said that the demands would be great, but that would require a better look at one’s input in the first place.
What Kunal said
During the conversation, Soha said that nowadays the idea of work-life balance is much more in demand and is normalised, which was not the case a few years ago. Adding to this, Kunal said, “I feel that when we become 18 and when we are choosing governments of our country, we also have to choose what we want in life, what we signed up for. We sometimes say that we want to work for only so much time and want to spend time here… then you leave the job. Then don’t say that I want to be the biggest superstar and I want to be working in 10 films in a year. You choose what you want to do and know that it will come with its pros and cons, that you have signed up for it. You can’t say I want to get paid more and I want to work less.”
‘Toh phir woh mat bolo ki 12 ghante kaam kar ke aapse zyada salary le raha hain’
When Soha said that this was a debate that was brought up with Deepika Padukone demanding 8-hour work shifts on set for an actor, Kunal responded, “Of course. I am not just saying gender and actors. I am saying when we are talking about generations, like Gen Z, we have this whole conversation that Gen Z does not want to work too much and millennials used to do that. They had only so much hours, but they also had the lifestyle of chilling and doing self-exploration trips. Toh phir woh mat bolo ki 12 ghante kaam kar ke aapse zyada salary le raha hain. Woh bhi problem hain. Lekin woh holiday pe nahi jaa raha hain, woh bhi problem hain. Aap ko jaana hain lekin kam paise mil raha hain toh woh bhi problem hain (Then don’t say that the person working for 12 hours is getting paid more. That is a problem. If they are holidaying that is a problem, you cannot go because you are paid less and that is also the problem)!”
All about Deepika’s 8-hour shift demand
Last year, Deepika exited from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit due to her alleged demand for an eight-hour workday. A row emerged after that. Following this, she had to exit from Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2, too.
The actor wanted to work not more than eight hours a day during the shoot so that she could be with her daughter, Dua. However, her demands weren’t met, and she exited the film. Discussions continue to swirl around in the film industry, with many coming forward to voice their thoughts.
