Priyamani On Deepika Padukone's 8-Hour Working Shift Demand: 'You've To Adjust' | Exclusive

South actress Priyamani has now commented on Deepika Padukone’s push for an eight-hour working day on film sets, saying it’s important for everyone to be flexible and work together. Priyamani will soon start shooting for Family Man Season 3 alongside Manoj Bajpayee. The popular series is created by Raj and DK.

What did Priyamani say?

In an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18 Showsha, Priyamani said, “It is completely subjective. There are times when you will have to adjust which is okay and you should make room for it.”

Priyamani plays Suchitra, a pivotal character in The Family Man series.

Deepika Padukone’s working hours demands

Deepika Padukone’s ouster from Spirit and Kalki 2 grabbed everyone’s attention and stirred a debate about the work

culture in Bollywood. Speculations suggested that her decision to work an 8-hour shift as a new mother was one of the main reasons behind her stepping away from the projects. In recent chats with CNBC-TV18 and Brut, Deepika Padukone said that she is advocating for a better work-life balance in Bollywood.

Deepika Padukone told Brut, “I don’t think what I’m asking for is ridiculously unfair, and I think only someone who’s worked in the system enough will know that the conditions that we work in, and I’m saying this as if I may say so myself a top star.”

She added that she understands that everyone has a different working style and mentioned that no one is obligated to work with each other if they cannot understand their needs. She also said to CNBC-TV18, “I’m okay with challenging the status quo. I’ve always been like that since I was a child. If I can see that something can be different or better, even if there are systems that are age-old, I’m okay to ruffle those feathers… I’m okay being abused at. I can very easily cut out the noise.”

Deepika called out the glaring double standards in Bollywood and told CNBC-TV18, “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 8 hours for years, and it’s never made headlines.”

She further added, “I don’t want to take names now and make this into this whole thing, but it’s very commonly, publicly known about a lot of male actors who have been working for 8 hours for years. A lot of them work only 8 hours Monday to Friday; they do not work on weekends.”

Deepika emphasised that the Indian film industry remains disorganised despite being called an ‘industry’. She stated, “I think the larger issue is that while the Indian film industry is called an ‘industry’, we’ve never really functioned like one. It’s extremely disorganised, and it’s about time we brought in proper systems and structure.”

Deepika said, “I also know a lot of women now and newly turned mothers who have also started working eight hours. But that also surprisingly didn’t make headlines. So I’m not sure about this myself.”