Amid Deepika-Vanga Row, Radhika says Industry Unfair to Working Moms

Recently, the controversy involving star heroine Deepika Padukone and Sandeep Reddy Vanga became a hot topic in Indian cinema circles. Reportedly, Deepika set a few demands to sign Spirit when offered the lead actress role. One of those demands was Deepika asking for an 8-hour shift on the sets of Spirit, so that she could spend time with her newborn daughter. Eventually, the makers couldn’t oblige Deepika’s demands and had to replace her with another actress.

Amidst the Deepika Padukone and Sandeep Reddy Vanga row, Bollywood actress Radhika Apte commented on working in the Hindi film industry post-motherhood. She said that the film industry in India is not supportive of working mothers. She said it is challenging in India to work after motherhood.

Speaking in a recent interview, Radhika stated, “I realised that how we work in India is just never going to be a possibility for me. Because in India, a normal shift is a minimum of 12 hours. That doesn’t include makeup. So, with hair and makeup, it’s about 13 hours, plus the travel. And no shoot finishes on time. That’s 15 hours plus when it doesn’t finish on time. I’ve shot mostly for 16-18 hours in my career.”

She said that post motherhood, she just cannot do that because if she does, she would never get a chance to see her daughter. “So, I’ve realised that’s impossible. So, I must have different terms in my contracts now, and a lot of people are going to have problems with it.”

Radhika took a break after attaining motherhood and recently came up with the critically acclaimed film, Sister Midnight, which is currently running in theatres.