Keerthy Suresh On 8-Hour Work Demand: "In Kerala, Lightmen Get Only 3-4 Hours Of Sleep"

Keerthy Suresh, who's currently promoting Revolver Rita, was asked to weigh in on the 8-hour work shif demand. The work-hour demand stem after Deepika Padukone exited from two high-profile projects, Spirit and Kalki 2898 AD sequel owing to the lack of fixed hours among other reasons. Addressing both the sides of the coin, Keerthy Suresh said she had worked for more than eight hours as well. 

She said, "I do 9-5, 9-9, and 9-2 also. When I was doing Mahanati, I was shooting for five other films (Agnyaathavaasi, Saamy Square, Sarkar, Sandakozhi 2 and Thaanaa Serndha Koottam). There was a time when I was doing one film in the morning and one in night. I've also done shoots that are only 9-6. For me personally, I will work both."

Talking about the demanding nature of the job and how it affects sleep patterns, Keerthy said, "For an actor to be ready for shoot at 9, she has to be there by 7:30 for makeup, for which I need to be up by 5-5:30. Once you pack up at 6:30, you change and leave by 7. By the time you reach home or the hotel, it's 8- 8:30. After that you work out, then dinner at 10:30, and sleep by 11:30. It is said that 8 hours of sleep is ideal, but with a 9-6 shift we barely get 6 hours of sleep. So imagine with a 9- 9 shift, you get only 4-5 hours. And the technicians come much before us and pack up much after us."

She added, "In Tamil and Telugu, it's 9- 6 unless extra time is required for particular scenes. But in Malayalam and Hindi, it's 12 hours. In the Malayalam industry there are no breaks - it's a continuous schedule. I do a lot of ads in Kerala, and they tell me how difficult it is. After wrapping shoot and packing up, they get just 3-4 hours of sleep, and the lightmen, I think, get only 2- 3 hours. So I think sleep is a problem. This is the scenario."

"I will do both, but health-wise, I think there's a reason why they say 9-6 and that a human should work only 8 hours a day. I think it comes from that place," Keerthy summed up.

What Deepika Padukone Said About 8-Hour Work Demand 

After grabbing the headlines for months, Deepika told CNBC TV 18, "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 a lot of superstars, male superstars, in the Indian Film Industry, have been working for 8 hours for years and it's never made headlines!"

Deepika added, "I don't want to take names now and make this into a whole thing, but it is very commonly, publicly known that a lot of male actors have been working for 8 hours a day for years. A lot of them only work for 8 hours from Monday to Friday. They do not work on weekends."

Deepika was last seen in Rohit Shetty's Singham Again, released last Diwali. She will next be seen in Shah Rukh Khan's King.