Actor Deepika Padukone made headlines recently with her demand for less stringent work schedules in the film industry. Her requests for an eight-hour workday reportedly contributed to Deepika's exit from Spirit, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and starring Prabhas. Many actors and technicians supported Deepika's stance. Ajay Devgn, for instance, backed her call for an eight-hour work day, saying that filmmakers with honesty will not find any issues with it. That being said, some producers have also opposed the idea of working for eight hours in film production. The latest producers to express their reservations against Deepika's proposition are Dulquer Salmaan and Archana Kalpathi.
In a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, both Dulquer and Archana said that it is impossible to implement the nine-to-five work schedule in the film industry. Archana discussed her responsibility to pay those who work on her films on time, because for her, it is important to help sustain their livelihood. The GOAT producer underscored the importance of a collaborative effort in filmmaking to ensure the satisfaction of all stakeholders, including OTT platforms.
Dulquer agreed with Archana, saying, it is not as costly to spend more hours shooting a film as working for an extra day. Archana said that, as producers, they attempt to avoid the need to work extra hours as much as possible on a film by spending much time planning how to go about it in the pre-production stage itself. She added that principal photography does not happen on her films on Sundays and holidays, because this also comes with a cost. Archana argued that the production cost for a smaller film would increase by twofold in that case and that interest rates are high for a film with a bigger budget.
