Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has shared his perspective on the recent controversy involving actress Deepika Padukone and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga over her reported exit from Spirit.
According to reports, Deepika, who recently embraced motherhood, had requested an 8-hour workday clause—a condition that allegedly didn’t align with the director’s schedule expectations. The reported fallout sparked an intense debate around work-life balance, especially for women in the film industry, and what constitutes reasonable work hours in such a demanding profession.
Ram Gopal Varma, however, feels that the problem has been exaggerated needlessly. The director provided a realistic and fair analysis of the situation in an open interview with Hindustan Times.
Ram Gopal Varma Reacts to Deepika Padukone’s 8-Hour Shift Demand
“When it comes to having fixed shift timings for actors, I really think that it is an agreement between two people. Each of them has a right to say what they want, and the other one has a right to refuse," said Varma.
He further added, “The whole thing (between Deepika and Sandeep) was a very exaggerated thing in my opinion. Because I can say, I want to work for 23 hours, and the actor can say I want to work only for one hour. That’s their call. But how can one human being force another human being to do something? And they can agree to work or not work with each other… But that thing was just kind of blown up in the media."
Varma also pointed out the impracticality of fixed shifts in filmmaking due to its inherently unpredictable nature. “That’s because it depends on so many factors. The director might need a particular light. He might want some combination of another actor, or maybe the location is not available. There are too many factors which can factor in,” he explained.
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Meanwhile, director Mohit Suri also weighed in on the controversy in a separate interaction with NDTV. “Well, to each their own. I think it depends on the kind of budget you’re working with... No one’s sadistic enough to unnecessarily torture someone,” he said.
Suri added that setting expectations after signing on to a project can be problematic. “You have a choice to be a part of something or not... But what I think is unfair is when someone comes in and starts dictating terms after signing on.”
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