According to actor Archana Puran Singh, working conditions on movie sets are very bad. She has spoken out against team members being mistreated and working too long shifts.
Her honest comments have sparked a new round of discussion about working conditions in the entertainment business, where actors and workers are increasingly talking about being burnt out and having schedules that they can’t keep up.
“13–14-hour shifts are now the norm”
During the promotion for Toaster, Archana Puran Singh told News18 that shoots often go much longer than planned, lasting more than 12 hours and up to 13–14-hour workdays. She said that what were supposed to be organised jobs have slowly turned into normalised overwork, and cast and crew were expected to keep working even though they were tired.
“Some studios don’t even give us lunch breaks,” she said. They want to get as much work done as possible. We would work shifts from 9 am to 6 pm and from 2 pm to 10 pm. These days, shifts last more than 12 hours. Even so, they still want us to work 13–14 hours a day and not take lunch breaks. We are only stingy in this way (kanjoosi).
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Kanjoosi is a way of thinking
One of the most talked-about parts of the interview was when Archana called this way of cutting costs a “kanjoosi mentality.” This meant that she thought that being tight with money often meant sacrificing workers’ well-being and respect. “Kanjoosi is a way of thinking,” she said. Why shouldn’t the light men eat? They carry their gear and stand in the sun for hours. They don’t have helpers like us who bring them food. It’s awful.
She talked about how some production companies were known for limiting crew members’ meals by limiting amounts and being strict about where food went. “We’ve been through this a lot,” she said. I don’t want to name the very large production house that was there. “Ek boti, do roti” was what we used to call them. (2 pieces of bread and 1 piece of meat). If you ask someone on the crew about them, they’ll say, “Achcha, yeh toh ek boti, do roti waale hai.” There would not be a lot of non-vegetarian food at the lunch table. The crew would be told they could only eat a certain number of rotis and one helping of the meat dish.
Concerns are shared by other actors
Some of her Toaster co-stars, like Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra, and Abhishek Banerjee, also had similar complaints about the lack of planned breaks and poor staff care. Rajkummar asked why lunch times couldn’t be planned better, and other people said that small decisions made on set often show how people feel about their coworkers in a bigger way.
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When Deepika Padukone told people that overworking and stress were becoming normal
The talk comes at a time when working hours are getting more attention in the industry, especially since Deepika Padukone has pushed for eight-hour shifts and better plans in the past. She said to Harper’s Bazaar earlier, “We’ve made overworking normal.” Too often, we mistake tiredness for dedication. The mind and body can handle eight hours of work a day. You can only do your best when you’re healthy. It doesn’t help anyone to bring someone back into the system who is burnt out.
Archana’s words also hit home because they cut through the glitz and glamour of movie sets and show the unsung workers who keep projects going. More and more, the question is about whether better treatment behind the scenes should come with box office success. This includes everything from spot boys to lighting teams.
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