Amid ongoing discussions on the demanding work culture of the Indian film industry especially following Deepika Padukone’s exit from Spirit and the Kalki 2898 AD sequel Keerthy Suresh has offered a candid perspective on work hours and wellbeing. While promoting her upcoming film Revolver Rita in Hyderabad, the National Award-winning actress opened up about the long, exhausting schedules commonly followed on sets and why an 8-hour shift should ideally be the norm.
Keerthy revealed that throughout her career, she has worked a wide range of shifts, sometimes shooting from 9 AM all the way to 2 AM the next day. She shared that during the making of Mahanati, she was simultaneously juggling five other films often leaving her with little time to rest or recover. For health and productivity, she emphasised, an 8-hour window would be far more sustainable.
All the actresses are supporting #DeepikaPadukone’s statement about the 8-hour work shift#RashmikaMandanna and now #KeerthySuresh have stated that working more than 8 hours not only impacts the health of actors, but also severely affects all the technicians, as they arrive on… pic.twitter.com/YcRYcXq0D2
— Daily Culture (@DailyCultureYT) November 26, 2025
Describing a typical day for actors, Keerthy explained, “For a 9 o’clock shift, if I have to be there by 7:30 AM, I have to start from home at 6:30 AM and wake up by 5:30 AM.” She added that after wrapping up around 6 or 6:30 PM and returning home by 8:15 PM, actors still squeeze in workouts, dinner, and preparations for the next day. By the time the day ends, it is already 11 PM, leaving barely six hours of sleep before the cycle begins again.
Keerthy then highlighted how the issue is more severe in certain industries. “In Tamil and Telugu, we usually have a standard of 9–6. But in Malayalam and Hindi, they work for 12 hours,” she explained. Malayalam sets, she noted, often run continuous schedules without breaks, leaving actors and technicians especially lightmen sleeping only two to three hours a day. “Sleep is just as important as food or exercise,” she stressed, underscoring the physical and emotional toll such routines take on crews and performers alike.
Her remarks follow similar sentiments recently expressed by Rashmika Mandanna, who, while promoting The Girlfriend, also advocated for regulated work shifts for health reasons. As more stars speak up, the conversation around enforcing humane and structured work hours in the film industry continues to gain momentum.
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With major actors acknowledging the pressures they face, the hope is that the industry moves toward more balanced schedules that support both creativity and wellbeing.
