- Deepika Padukone left Spirit and Kalki 2898 AD sequel over 8-hour workday demands
- Kangana Ranaut has now supported Deepika's stance, citing her status as a top actress and mother
- Kangana Ranaut recalled working longer hours early in her career and now supports shorter shifts
In a recent interview, actor-BJP MP Kangana Ranaut addressed the controversy around the 8-hour work debate that was kickstarted by Bollywood star Deepika Padukone when she left Spirit and the Kalki 2898 AD sequel in 2025.
The row dragged on for months where many celebrities waded into the debate, offering their opinions about having fixed working hours in the entertainment industry.
Nearly a year after the controversy, Kangana Ranaut has voiced support for Deepika Padukone, stating that the Padmaavat star has earned the stature to call the shots, especially now as a new mother.
In a podcast with ANI, the Queen star said, "I don't think there should be an issue created out of this because if you see where she (Deepika Padukone) is coming from, she has earned that place. She has a daughter, she's a mother now, and the topmost actress. If today she is keen to work for eight hours, she has earned it."
Kangana Ranaut recalled a conversation she had with Deepika Padukone when she was working on an Imtiaz Ali film.
"Deepika and I, when we were together, she said that they were working on Imtiaz's film or something. She said, 'We have a 12-hour shift.' In response, I said that I work for only 10 hours. She's like 'That's amazing'. So there was a time when we wouldn't settle for anything less than 12-14 hours because we were ferocious. We wanted it. We were at it. We were going for it. We wanted to be successful and wanted all these things," she added.
Kangana Ranaut said initially an actor has to fight tooth and nail to make their place in the film industry. Asking women to work for longer hours while managing their family and children was too much, she further said.
"When you're new, you're coming up, and you are replaceable. Your place is different. She (Deepika Padukone), being where she is, she's a mother. She's got a family to look after. She's also earned that place where people are going to say, 'Wait a minute, I want her. And it's okay if she comes for eight hours because we'll work around her time'.
"So why not? All the talk about fertility rate, all the talk about marriages collapsing, and all of it, what are we doing? We are putting so much pressure on our women. We are making them work double the amount now with the children," she added.
Deepika Padukone made headlines after she exited Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit over specific working conditions, including a request for an 8-hour workday. Months later, the makers of the Kalki 2898 AD sequel also announced her departure from the project, stating a film like Kalki part two deserves a higher level of "commitment".
Deepika Padukone later addressed the controversy, highlighting how the 8-hour shift was being made out to be an issue because she was a woman.
"By virtue of being a woman, if that's coming across as pushy or whatever, then so be it. But it is no secret that many superstars, male superstars, in the Indian film industry, have been working for 8 hours for years, and it's never made headlines!
"I don't want to take names now and make this into a whole thing, but it is widely, publicly known that many male actors have been working for 8 hours a day for years. Many of them only work for 8 hours from Monday to Friday. They do not work on weekends," she said.
After her exit from Spirit and Kalki 2898 AD sequel, Deepika Padukone announced that she is set to reunite with Shah Rukh Khan in Siddharth Anand's King. She also has Raaka, in which she features with with Pushpa star Allu Arjun.