'Don't make it a norm': ‘Delhi Crime 3’ team bats for proper structure around working hours

In an industry known for long and irregular hours, the cast of ''Delhi Crime 3'', including Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, and Huma Qureshi, expressed the need for a work environment which is ''not exploitative and allows creative aberration when the situation demands''.

Shah, who has been in the film industry for three decades, said she is now in a position to say “I want to go home”. The actor explained she loves being on set, but sometimes it becomes exhausting.

“After all these years, I can say, ‘I need to go home’. We are very reasonable actors, we are not badly behaved, we understand when. It's like we’ve to finish this, we get that. But you can't make that a normal,” the actor, who returns as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi in the third season of the International Emmy Award-winning series, told PTI in an interview.

Shah detailed the intensity of an actor’s daily routine, revealing a relentless cycle: wake up, commute to the set for over an hour, work for an unspecified number of hours, and return home, only to repeat the cycle the next day.

''I’ve to bring my top game every morning, not once can I turn around and say, ‘I’m tired. Today, can I just do 50 per cent and watch that thing for the rest of your life, and feel miserable about it’. So, I think it's only fair (referring to working hours),'' she said.

The actor added that she is neither justifying ''unrealistic expectations'' nor ''being unreasonable''.

''I love being on the set, it's my happiest place, and I don't want to go back home. But at some point, you are going to be exhausted, you are drained out. And a show like this, you give everything to it, you are consumed by it,” she said.

The debate about working hours in the film industry started after Bollywood star Deepika Padukone opted out of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's film “Spirit” due to differences with the makers over her request to limit her working hours to eight per day.

Dugal, who is seen in the role of cop Neeti Singh in “Delhi Crime”, said proper rules should be laid out in terms of working hours on a set.

“There has to be some structure, some rules, otherwise it will become that powerful gets what they want and those who don't have a say, get exploited, and that’s not a system you want to be a part of. There has to be a norm, which is not exploitative, and there can be a creative aberration when the situation demands, and we are up for that,” she said.

Actor Rajesh Tailang, who plays Inspector Bhupendra Singh in the series, reflected on a time when working hours were more regulated.

“I remember when I worked in the 90s, we had an eight-hour shift. But there were a lot of things that were not right like the payment, and other things, which are not a problem today. Ideally, the shift should be eight hours,” he said.

Actors Sayani Gupta and Huma Qureshi, who are new to the cast of the show, weighed in on the work-life balance debate.

Gupta said actors must leverage their influential positions to set better standards for themselves and their crews.

“Actors are in a position of power, where they can set certain standards. If you make me work for 22 hours, I will say never, but one thing I’ll never do is walk out of set, saying, ‘That’s it, my time is over, and I’m leaving’, I’ll never do that because I’m also a filmmaker,” she said.

“As actors, if we don’t put our foot together, the crew who’ve to go back home, and are the first ones to get on set, they’re not done, they’re doing a 20-hour shift. Actors are in a position who can say, ‘If we go, then the rest of the shoot will pack-up’, So, we’ve to stand up for everybody else,” Gupta said, adding that in Kolkata, many industry people operate on eight-hour shifts.

On similar lines, Shah said, “Recently, on a film I did, I left at a time when I was supposed to, and the crew, the AD’s said, ‘Thank God, she leaves, so that we get to leave otherwise we are here forever’.” Recognising her responsibilities as an actor, Qureshi said that while she doesn't mind putting in extra hours at work, as that might incur financial setbacks for the makers, but added that it shouldn't be the norm.

“Everybody is allowed to have their own version of work-life balance. If I need a 10-hour turnaround, for somebody who has a family and it's a choice at different stages in your life, that you can make, and the other person has free will to hire you or not, and vice versa,” the actor said.

“I feel the incident (working for 48 hours) I mentioned, is like one off sort of a thing, it's not normal, it’s just sometimes you understand that your producers have certain constraints, and if you don't show up, there will be a lot of monetary loss. We don't want anyone to suffer,'' Qureshi added.

Director Tanuj Chopra said he constantly strives not to go overboard in terms of the shooting schedule.

“I’ve to be efficient with my instructions, and get on time, if I’m prepared, I know what I want, and how to get my work done. People extend shifts way too long, maybe I go an hour here or there because all kind of things happen on sets, but there’s no reason if you’re prepped well, you can get out in 12 hours, it’s all about preparation, those who work for 18 or 20 hours are just not prepared,'' he said.

“Delhi Crime 3” will stream on Netflix from November 13.