After all these years, I can say I need to go home: ‘Delhi Crime 3’ cast call for fair working hours

In an industry notorious for long and irregular hours, the cast of Delhi Crime 3, including Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, and Huma Qureshi, have spoken out about the need for a work environment that is “not exploitative and allows creative aberration when the situation demands.”

Shah, who has been working in the film industry for three decades, said she is now confident enough to assert, “I want to go home.” The actor, reprising her role as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi in the third season of the International Emmy Award-winning series, told PTI in an interview that while she loves being on set, it can sometimes be 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,” she said.

Shah outlined the intensity of an actor’s daily routine: waking up, commuting over an hour to set, working long hours, returning home, and repeating the cycle.

“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,” she said, emphasising 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,” Shah added.

The debate over working hours in the film industry gained attention after Bollywood star Deepika Padukone opted out of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s film Spirit due to disagreements over her request to limit her working hours to eight per day.

Dugal, who plays cop Neeti Singh, said clear rules around working hours are essential.

“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, recalled more regulated working hours in the past.

“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.

Newer cast members Sayani Gupta and Huma Qureshi also weighed in on work-life balance. Gupta emphasised the responsibility actors have to set 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.

Gupta added that actors can influence conditions for the crew, who often endure long shifts. “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,” she said, citing that in Kolkata, many industry professionals operate on eight-hour shifts.

Shah gave a recent example: “Recently, on a film I did, I left at a time when I was supposed to, and the crew, the ADs said, ‘Thank God, she leaves, so that we get to leave otherwise we are here forever'.”

Qureshi acknowledged the occasional need for extended hours but argued that such instances should remain exceptions.

“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,” she said.

“I feel the incident (working for 48 hours) I mentioned is like a one-off sort of a thing, it's not normal. 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 strives to avoid unnecessarily long shooting schedules.

“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 kinds 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 be available to stream on Netflix from 13 November.