Dulquer Salmaan, Rana Daggubati, Vikramaditya Motwane, Archana Kalpathi on Why 'Eight-Hour Shift' is Impractical on Film Sets

The conversation around eight-hour workdays in cinema resurfaces every few months, but this year it took over headlines after Deepika Padukone’s comment triggered a wave of debate. On the ground, though, the people actually running sets see the issue with far more nuance and realism.

Actor-producer Rana Daggubati pushed back on the idea of fixed shifts during THR India's Producers Roundtable 2025. “This is not a job; it’s a lifestyle. Each film will ask for something else. It’s not a factory. We could sit for eight hours and the best scene comes out, or sit for fifty and nothing comes out," Daggubati said.

For him, the tone is set at the top. “Unless the top brass understands that everyone is involved in creating one story, it doesn’t trickle down,” he added.

Actor Dulquer Salmaan, who backed this year's blockbuster Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, explained how the culture itself varies across regions. “In Malayalam, you just keep going. They clap while they say pack up because nobody knows when it’s going to end, he said.

Dulquer noted how Sundays, holidays and even festivals become shoot days because the entire unit has travelled together. “If I want to give them an off, they’re like, ‘No, let’s just finish and go home.’” The actor said he does worry at times about fatigue affecting creativity, especially in long comic or action sequences, but efficiency remains a core value. “Going extra on a day is cheaper than an additional day,” he added.

For producer Archana Kalpathi, the answer is clarity and discipline, not shorter hours. “Pre-production really helps. Not more than 10 per cent of the production budget should go overboard and I will not work with a director who has no clarity,” she said.  But she’s unequivocal about the eight-hour idea. “9 to 5 is not possible in cinema... we all signed into this madness,” she added, noting that the responsibility is to avoid wasting anyone’s time.

Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane agreed that planning makes long days manageable, stating, “What I don’t like is feeling exploited or exploiting the crew. As long as everyone knows it in advance, as long as they’re prepared for it then you plan for it, you sign up for it," Motwane added.