Keerthy Suresh Condemns Long Work Shifts, But In The Right Way

There has been a lot of chatter about 9-6 work shifts in the film industry ever since Deepika Padukone spoke about it. Many heroines supported her statements as well. Recently, Rashmika Mandanna pointed out that working extra hours will not only affect the health of actors but technicians too. Now, another star heroine, Keerthy Suresh, made a similar statement.

Keerthy clearly explained how working extra hours affects one’s health. She said, “I do all kinds of work, 9-6, 9-9 and 9-2. When I was working on Mahanati, I used to shoot for five other films: Agnyathavaasi, Saami 2, Sandakozhi 2, Sarkar and TSK. There was a time when I used to shoot one film in the morning and one film in the night. I have done all kinds of work shifts. For me personally, I will do both work shifts.”

“Everyone talks about the 9–6 shift but not many know what goes behind it. In a 9-6 shift, we have to be ready with makeup on set by 9 am, which means we should be on the set at around 7.30 am. That means we have to wake up at around 5.30 am and start to the location by 6.30 am. When the shoot gets packed up at around 6-6.30 pm, you leave the set by 7 pm. You then reach home or the hotel by 8.15 or 8.30 pm. After that, we go to work out for one to one and a half hours. By the time we come back, it is already 10. Then, we have to take a shower and have dinner, which takes another hour. So, by the time we go back to bed, it will be 11–11.30 pm. Again, we have to wake up at 5-5.30 am the next day,” she added.

She further said, “Usually, everyone needs 8 hours of sleep. Here, in a 9-6 shift, we are getting around six hours of sleep. Now, imagine how many hours of sleep we get if we shoot a 9-9 shift. We may get around 4-5 hours of sleep. Now, imagine how much time the technicians and lightmen get to sleep, who come much before us and pack up much after us.”

Keerthy said that there is a 9–6 shift in Telugu and Tamil, but in Hindi and Malayalam, there are only 12-hour shifts. She pointed out that the scenario is much more worrying in Malayalam, where people get only 3-4 hours of sleep due to tight schedules.

While many actresses have expressed the same opinion, they often lacked this level of clarity, which is why they get trolled or targeted on social media. But with the way Keerthy Suresh explained every detail, this debate may finally get proper context and put an end to the controversies.

On the career front, Keerthy Suresh will be next seen in Revolver Rita, which is slated for a worldwide release in Tamil and Telugu on November 28.