Vidya Balan supports Deepika Padukone for flexible working hours, says she works 12 hours because she's not a mom: ‘I have all the time in the world'

Indian Express

8 hours ago

New mom and actor Deepika Padukone walking out of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit due to a conflict over working hours, particularly her request for an eight-hour workday, has ignited the debate around flexible working hours for actors in the film industry, especially for new mothers. Now, Vidya Balan has weighed in on the matter, agreeing that new mothers should be given more flexibility at work. While Vidya quickly added that she works for 12 hours, she admitted that she can afford to do so because she is not a mother.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, Vidya shared that industries across the board are increasingly accommodating the needs of new mothers. She said, 'There is a conversation about how mothers need to have the option to work for fewer hours, flexible hours and I think that's fair. Every industry is adopting those practices so that we don't lose out on new mothers or women in the early years of them having children. I think it's important that we do have flexible working hours for women.'
Vidya admitted that while she works 12 hours a day, she's able to do so because she isn't a mother. She said, 'I have to be honest with you on the kind of films that I do, we cannot afford to show for only eight hours and I am not a mother, so I have all the time in the world to be doing a 12 hour shift.'
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Earlier, Rashmika Mandanna, who worked with Sandeep Reddy Vanga in Animal, also commented on the conflict between the filmmaker and Deepika over working hours. Rashmika emphasised that every film has its own set of requirements, and filmmakers and actors should engage in dialogue beforehand. She told Mojo Story, 'Today, the whole country is debating about flexible hours and everything, but that is for discussion amongst the teams to figure out what works for them. It's their personal choice, that's what I believe in. I feel like every film needs to have that discussion and to be open to how many hours in the day they want to work.'
For the unversed, Deepika was approached to play the female lead in Vanga's Spirit. However, according to reports, she exited the project after some of her key demands — such as a capped eight-hour shoot day, a share in the film's profits, and the flexibility to not speak her lines in Telugu — were refused by the filmmaker. Vanga had later shared an angry post on X (formerly Twitter) regarding the matter, without naming the actor. Deepika was eventually replaced by Triptii Dimri.