Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 10 (ANI): As discussions continue in the film industry over reports that Deepika Padukone's alleged demand for an eight-hour workday led to her exit from Spirit, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and starring Prabhas, filmmaker Hansal Mehta has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding work culture in the Indian film industry.

On Thursday, Mehta, in a post on social media platform X, shared a detailed note, criticising the industry's long working hours and the normalisation of exhaustion among professionals. The filmmaker highlighted that unhealthy work patterns have become an accepted part of the entertainment industry, often at the expense of mental and physical well-being.

'In our line of work, a 12-hour day is politely called a 'shift'. The truth is, between the chaos of shoots, the endless commute, hurried meals and barely a few hours of broken sleep, there's little left of us. Where does our mental health or physical well-being fit into this equation? Weekends are rarely weekends. Breaks are looked down upon. Somewhere along the way, exhaustion became normalised and rest became a privilege. Sometimes I wonder: can this really be called an industry if it runs on the relentless draining of its people? The hardest hit are those who have the least power - the daily wagers. They are always the first to arrive and the last to leave, surviving in conditions we'd call inhuman anywhere else,' his post read.

'On television it's worse and now even OTT and films have slipped into the same pattern. We often celebrate the arrival of global corporations believing they'll bring better systems. But more often than not they simply adapt to the broken ones we already have. Because it's profitable, I truly believe that if we cared about well-being, ours and especially those who hold up the base of this pyramid, we'd not only work better, but live better. The irony is that quality, efficiency, and even profit would follow. But first, we need to stop scoffing at the simple idea of rest. Because without that, what are we really building?' Hansal Mehta added.

Mehta further shared that on one of his earlier projects, filming used to be completed within an 8-9-hour schedule, but when producers insisted on doing 'a little more,' the production ironically took longer to finish.

https://x.com/mehtahansal/status/1976498505771257996

Through his post, Mehta urged makers, especially producers, to start prioritising the physical and mental well-being of everyone working on a film set, whether behind the camera or in front of it.

'I believe balance is essential. Work, rest, family, friends, and time for oneself are not indulgences - they're integral to both health and to the quality of work we create. The normalisation of 12-hour working days feels exploitative. It should be the exception, not the standard. I remember a film I once worked on where I would finish the day's work within 8-9 hours. Almost immediately, the producers would rush in, asking me to do 'a little more.' Ironically, the film ended up taking longer than scheduled. Time wasn't saved l, on the contrary it was wasted. Hours were stretched, not utilised. The need of the hour is efficiency and economy but not at the cost of people. We must care about the physical and mental health of those who keep this industry running. It is not about the individual star or director - they are usually well looked after. It is about those who arrive earliest, leave last, and often have the least protection. For them especially, we need to care,' he shared.

Hansal Mehta is best known for creating projects like 'Shahid', 'Omerta', and 'Scam 1992', among others. In the coming months, he will be coming up with biographical series Gandhi, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)