Filmmaker Hansal Mehta on Friday opened up about the exhausting work culture that has been normalised across the film industry, saying that a 12-hour workday is politely called a “shift” and breaks are looked upon as a “privilege”.
Taking to X on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, the 57-year-old filmmaker wrote, “In our line of work, a 12-hour day is politely called a “shift.” The truth is, between the chaos of shoots, the endless commute, hurried meals and barely a few hours of broken sleep, there’s little left of us. Where does our mental health or physical well-being fit into this equation?”
“Weekends are rarely weekends. Breaks are looked down upon. Somewhere along the way exhaustion became normalised and rest became a privilege. Sometimes I wonder : can this really be called an industry if it runs on the relentless draining of its people,” he added.
Mehta revealed that the hardest hit is faced by those who have the “least power” — the daily wage workers. “They are always the first to arrive and the last to leave surviving in conditions we’d call inhuman anywhere else. On television it’s worse and now even OTT and films have slipped into the same pattern,” The Buckingham Murders director said.
He continued, “We often celebrate the arrival of global corporations believing they’ll bring better systems. But more often than not they simply adapt to the broken ones we already have. Because it’s profitable.”
Signing off, Mehta explained, “I truly believe that if we cared about well-being, ours and especially those who hold up the base of this pyramid we’d not only work better, but live better. The irony is that quality, efficiency, and even profit would follow. But first, we need to stop scoffing at the simple idea of rest. Because without that, what are we really building?”
Recently, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has found herself in the middle of a heated debate as she stepped out of filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga's action drama Spirit after reportedly demanding to work for eight hours a day.
According to media reports, she was replaced by Triptii Dimri due to disagreements over remuneration and alleged unprofessional behaviour.
Following that, Vyjayanthi Movies announced that Deepika is no longer a part of Kalki 2898 AD due to their inability to find a ‘partnership’ with her despite working with her for a long time during the making of the first film.