Kajol Explains Her Comment About Actors Working Harder Than 9-5 Employees: ‘You Can Chill, Let Loose…’

Kajol’s recent statement about actors working harder than 9-5 employees sparked a debate on Reddit, with many netizens calling her statement ‘tone-deaf’. She made the statement on the second episode of her show ‘Two Much With Kajol and Twinkle’ which featured Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan as guests. Now, days after the criticism, she has once again opened up about the demanding nature of her work, and explained why she feels being an actor is harder than working a 9-5 desk job. She said that while 9-5 employees can ‘let loose’, ‘take tea breaks’ and ‘chill out’, actors don’t have the same liberty as they have to be a ‘100 percent’ present for almost 12-14 hours when shooting.

Kajol Explains Why Being An Actor Is More Difficult Than A 9-5 Job

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Kajol was asked about

her statement on Two Much, about actors working harder than employees who work 9-5. Explaining her comment, the actress said, “I was at an event in Jaipur. The flight to Jaipur is at 7 am by the way. So I reached there, and the event was at about 3 pm in the afternoon. And I was sitting at this event and somebody asked me ‘You have such a glamorous life’. I said you’re only looking at it from the point of view that oh she is so well dressed, and she’s got makeup and she’s sitting here in front of me. But you don’t know that I took the 7 am flight in the morning for which I had to wake up at 5 in the morning and reach airport by 6. So that I could board the 7 am flight. And I have come here, got dressed, gotten ready, had lunch and then gone immediately do photos, one interview and then come to sit over here in this chair in front of you. So I have had a packed day from 5 in the morning.”

She further opened up about the demanding nature of her job. “It’s a very, very on-the-ball and on-the-job kind of job. If you’re there, you have to be there 100 percent. Yes, there are actors who are not a 100 percent all of the time. But for me, when I’m shooting for a film especially, you’re shooting continuously 45 days. Like we shot Trial season 2 for about 35-40 days. And we shot almost continuously throughout. And it was 35-40 days of waking up in the morning. You have to get your workout in, you have to get your food in order. It has to be bang on. You know that you can’t put on even one inch somewhere because your clothes will not fit you anymore. That’s a huge pressure. It’s really big.”

Kajol Says Desk Job Employees Can ‘Chill’, ‘Let Loose’, But Actors Cannot

She further explained, “If you’re not shooting for a film, you’re shooting for something else. You are attending an event. And its continuous. And I have to be a 100 percent present. And to be a 100 percent present, all the time, for 12-14 hours a day is really difficult. When you’re doing a 9-5 job and sitting at a desk, you don’t have to be a 100 percent present. You are doing your job for the period of time that it takes. You can take your tea breaks. I am not saying that we don’t take our tea or coffee breaks, but you can chill out, let loose, walk, talk and do your job at the same time. But we can’t. And we are scrutinized and we are looked at. We have to worry about how we cross our legs, how we sit, where we are, who’s looking at us, who’s photographing us at every point in time. It’s a lot of pressure. So you’re constantly like this little kettle that’s boiling over 24/7. You are always looking around, you are always a little paranoid. We live like that.”