It takes courage to be a Deepika

New mother Deepika Padukone has a lot going on in her life right now. It is good to see she has her priorities in place. Recently, she made headlines for two different reasons: First, she boldly demanded an eight-hour working day—which indirectly forced her out of Spirit, a big-budget film by Sandeep Reddy Venga. Second, she became the first Indian female actor to be felicitated with the coveted Hollywood Walk of Fame honour. Both announcements went viral.

- SHOBHAA DE

Filmmaking is filmmaking. It is not a corporate job with specified working hours. Actors often shoot nonstop for days, dictated by the production schedule. While several female actors have, over the years, raised concerns about unreasonable working hours, they were ignored. Sadly, even today, there are very few takers for this entirely valid demand. Female actors, no matter how successful they are, are seen as “expendable” by producers and directors.

Deepika’s exit from Spirit has not affected the film’s commercial prospects. Tripti Dimri has smoothly replaced her. Meanwhile, the sequel to Cocktail