'Deepika Padukone Is Progressive, Need More People Like Her': Konkona Backs Fixed Shifts

Deepika Padukone’s exit from Spirit and Kalki 2 stirred conversation around fixed working hours for actors, and now ace actress Konkona Sen Sharma has also weighed in on this debate. Speaking to Filmygyan,

Konkona said about Deepika, “I feel she is very progressive, and we need many more people like her.” Konkona championed for equality on set and backed Deepika’s demand for fixed working hours.

Konkona said, “I think there should be some rules in the industry. We can’t work for 14-15 hours. We should have a 12-hour turnaround. We should have at least one day off in the week, especially for the technicians. It should be equal. It shouldn’t be like male actors are coming late and are working late, and women are leaving their children and working for long hours. It should be equal.”

This is not the first time that Konkona has backed Deepika on the matter. She previously told News18 Showsha, “I do think that ideally, there should be humane working hours across the industry. I mean, we are not neurosurgeons dealing with life-and-death situations. Of course, one has to take care that the people financing the project do recover their money because that’s important, and it is equally important that we remember we are working with human beings who need something called ‘bio breaks’.”

“We need breaks from time to time. We do make exceptions occasionally, like when we have a 12-hour shift that often gets stretched to 14–15 hours. But I do think there should be more regulated working hours and at least one day off weekly; it would be more productive as well,” Konkona added.

“I know how the industry works, and that I’m not going to actually get away with very short working hours,” she told PTI. The actress mentioned, “The kind of projects I do are small or medium budget, so I have to plan my life accordingly — whether it’s with my son, my father, my mom, or someone who’s come down to help me out. One does need a bit of a community or a village. The village is disappearing, so it’s a bit tough.”

For Konkona, the key to progress lies in constant communication and incremental change. “This is how we’ve built better practices — through conversations, discussions, unions, a little bit of protest, and a little bit of adjusting,” she explained. “Earlier, many things were much worse, and many things have become better,” the actress concluded.