Weighing in on the debate surrounding Deepika Padukone's eight-hour shift demand, Rani Mukerji has opened up about her own story of balancing work with motherhood.
The conversation around work-life balance in cinema began after Padukone was reportedly dropped from Sandeep Reddy Vanga's film “Spirit” and Nag Ashwin’s “Kalki 2898 AD” sequel over her work-hour demands.
Reacting to the same, Rani recalled the time when she was working on her 2018 film “Hichki”.
"When I did 'Hichki', Adira was 14-months-old, and I was still breastfeeding her, so I had to pump the milk in the morning and go," the “Mardaani” star said.
Detailing how she re-arranged her schedule around her baby’s needs, Rani added: "From my house to the place of shooting, it takes about two hours. So, I would leave at 6:30 in the morning after expressing my milk. My first shot used to be at 8 am and I used to wrap up everything by 12:30-1. My unit and my director had it so well-planned that I used to finish my shoot in those 6-7 hours and be home by 3 pm. I did the film like that."
She emphasised that flexible hours have always been based on mutual understanding. "These things are up in conversation today because maybe people are discussing it outside. But this has been a norm in all professions. I have also done it where I have worked for certain hours. If the producer's okay with it, you go ahead with the film. If the producer's not okay with it, you don't do the film. So, it's also a choice. Nobody is forcing anything on anybody," she remarked.
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The “Ghulam” actor further discussed taking a break from films to focus on raising her daughter and also spoke about how women actors have to maintain a work-life balance.
"Men don't have to go through a physical transformation. Women undergo a physical as well as emotional transformation when we become mothers."
Rani Mukerji was recently honoured with the Best Actress award at the 71st National Film Awards for her performance in the film “Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway”.
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