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Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar's recent trailer has taken the Internet by stormwith many fans rooting for the film on social media. During the film’s trailer launch, director Aditya Dhar — who previously helmed Vicky Kaushal’s hit Uri: The Surgical Strike — spoke about how the team, including actors and crew, worked tirelessly for 16 hours every day for 1.5 years. His comment comes at a time when Ranveer’s wife and actor Deepika Padukone has been batting for an 8-hour shift in the film industry. Deepika has been an advocate for fixed working hours for people on the set — including cast and crew — and also exited two films recently where it was reported that her demand was not met.
‘Worked for 16 hours for 1.5 years’: Aditya Dhar
Speaking at the trailer launch, Aditya said, “When we started this journey, there was a gap of five years when I hadn’t made a film and when I started writing, somehow, I started getting hold of people who were there to prove themselves. Our teaser has a dialogue, 'I am injured, I am in danger' so all of them were ‘ghayal‘ (injured) but they performed in a very ghatak (deadly) way. It’s extraordinary.”
He added, “Everybody has put their heart and soul into the film, and it doesn’t happen very often. The HODs got involved in the film with a pure intent. From actors, assistance, HODs to spot dadas — everybody was like I have to sacrifice my life for this film. (We will give our lives for this film). We have worked for 16 -18 hours continuously for 1.5 years and not even once has anyone complained that sir you are always doing more work (Sir, you are making us work more). Everybody has given their 100%.”
‘Worked out of our skin’: Ranveer Singh
Ranveer lauded Aditya’s hard work and admitted that the team, including him, has “worked out of their skin” for this project. He said, “When a person (Aditya) is so righteous in their intent, when he has a purpose behind telling the story, something great always comes out of it. I also went along with it, faced every challenge along the way, and he was leading from the front with such passion that it was infectious, it was contagious.”
He continued, “We were at a very similar stage in life when we met for this film over the past two years, we both have grown together. He had a baby boy. I had a baby girl and we worked out of our skin to make sure that our people, our team, our families, our audience are proud of what we made over here.”
Deepika spoke on glorification of overwork
For the unversed, after becoming a mother to her daughter Dua, Deepika exited high-profile projects like the sequel of Kalki 2898 AD and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit because her 8-hour shift demand, along with other requirements, wasn’t met by the makers.
In a recent chat with Harper’s Bazaar, she also spoke about how overworking is normalised in India. “We’ve normalised overworking. We mistake burnout for commitment. Eight hours of work a day is enough for the human body and mind. Only when you’re healthy can you give your best. Bringing a burnt-out person back into the system helps no one.” Deepika said that at her office, they follow a strict 5-day and 8-hour work policy with sufficient maternity and paternity breaks. “In my own office, we work eight hours a day, Monday to Friday. We have maternity and paternity policies. We should normalise bringing children to work,” she said.
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Deepika, in an earlier chat with IBN, Deepika had said that while a lot of male actors get away with 8-hour shifts, women are called out when they demand the same. “By virtue of being a woman, if that’s coming across as being pushy or whatever, then so be it. But it is no secret that a lot of superstars, male superstars, in the Indian film industry, have been working for eight hours for years, and it’s never made headlines. A lot of them only work for eight hours Monday to Friday. They do not work on weekends.”
