Rani Mukerji Recalls Doing 6-7 Hour Shifts Amid Deepika Padukone Row: If Producer Is Okay With It...

Rani Mukerji, who recently won her first National Film Award, spoke about the ongoing eight-hour work shifts debate in Bollywood. Rani joined the discussion on the work-life balance in cinema, and spoke about how

she has managed to balance her profession with motherhood. Recently, Deepika Padukone made headlines after the makers of Kalki 2898 AD announced her departure from the film’s sequel. She had also exited Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit sometime back leaving fans wondering.

Rani Mukerji returned to set soon after Adira's birth

Rani told ANI, "When I did 'Hichki', Adira was 14 months old, and I was still breastfeeding her, so I had to pump the milk and go in the morning, and I was shooting in a college in town."Rani revealed how her shooting schedule was planned around her daughter Adira. "From my house in the suburbs in Juhu to that place, and the traffic takes about two hours. So I kind of made it a thing where in the morning I would leave at 6:30 after expressing my milk and I would shoot. My first shot used to be at 8 in the morning and I used to wrap up everything by 12:30-1. My unit and my director, they were so planned that for those 6-7 hours I used to finish my shoot and before the traffic would start in town, I used to be home by 3 o'clock. And I did my film like that," she said."These things are up in conversation today because maybe people are discussing it outside. But this has been a norm with all professions. I've also done it where I have worked for certain hours. If the producer's okay with it, you go ahead with the film. If the producer's not okay with it, you don't do the film. So it's also a choice. Nobody is forcing anything on anybody," Rani opined.ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone Says 'Never Afraid To Ruffle Feathers' After Exit From Kalki Sequel Over Alleged 'Commitment Issues'

Work-life balance is for female actors

Rani did say that the onus of maintaining work-life balance falls on female actors and not men in the industry. "Men don't have to go through a physical transformation. Additionally, I think we undergo a physical transformation, along with our emotional transformation, as we become mothers. And I'm very happy being a woman. I would not change this for the world because I think men have really got left out on this beautiful, I would say, amazing... amazing thing that we women go through is giving birth to a child. You know, and that's the closest we come to God, I think. You know, because we are creating a life... And I feel sorry for them.""Imagine if men had to have children they would drive people mad. Right now, they have lot of time in their hand, that's why they're having wars. If they had to have children, maybe there would be no war in the world. Because they would be busy just preparing for the baby.." Rani expressed.