Mumbai: Deepika Padukone has consistently used her voice to advocate for issues that matter, and her stance on an eight-hour workday has sparked a wider conversation around work-life balance in the film industry. As the debate continues to gain momentum, several voices from the industry have come forward in support of the actor. The latest to back her is filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh.

Speaking about the debate, Lankesh said he believes actors, especially mothers, require balanced schedules, adding that productions should be planned around them rather than expecting them to work exhausting hours.

Explaining why he supports Deepika’s stand, he said, “If you’re shooting with an artist especially with Deepika for 6 hours and then he can shoot another scene for 4 hours because I’ll be behind the camera. I can work for the next 4 hours also. But artist cannot. They look tired. So you can plan your scenes, you can schedule accordingly and you can give them a break. You have to give them a break. And especially when you’re a mother and you have a kid, you have to because you have to look after the kid. Mother’s love is most important. You can have a caretaker or anybody for the kid but mother has to look after this.”

Lankesh further praised Deepika for speaking up, saying her decision benefits not just mothers but every actor in the industry.

“What she has done about eight hours, I feel really great about it and standing up for every woman or for every artist because more than 8 hours, you’re the one who’s in front of the camera. You look tired, you look haggard, and tomorrow you can’t do anything about it because on screen you’re the one who’s acting people are watching you. The director, of course, he’s telling his story. He’s behind the scene. But in front of the camera, you’re there and if you work for more than 8 hours a day, you look haggard. You look tired and nobody can kind of come into your rescue at the time.”

Talking about the pressure actors face over their on-screen appearance, he added, “You have to answer the questions about you’re looking old, you’re looking haggard, you’re looking tired, you’re looking kind of not giving your best. So 8 hours is perfect for an actor.”

He also argued that acting is far more physically demanding than a regular corporate job and suggested that even eight hours may be too long.

“In fact, it should be 6 hours because it’s a 8 hours for an office going corporate job is fine because you can have you tea, coffee sitting there. You can come back and work in front of your computer. You can refresh yourself. But acting, whatever you do, camera doesn’t lie. So camera is one person who doesn’t lie. So you have to kind of work 6 hours.. 6 to 7 hours.. and especially when you are a mother.”

With more industry members joining the conversation, Deepika Padukone’s stand has evolved into a larger discussion on healthier working conditions for actors, particularly working mothers. Backing her position, Indrajit Lankesh believes structured work hours are essential not only for an actor’s performance on screen but also for ensuring they can balance their personal responsibilities. His support adds to the growing list of industry voices endorsing the need for better work-life balance in cinema.