Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 1 : Amid the ongoing debate around Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone's reported demand for eight-hour work shifts, Rani Mukerji has weighed in on the discussion, reflecting on her own journey of balancing work and motherhood.
Deepika's exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga's upcoming film Spirit, starring Prabhas, over a reported request for an eight-hour workday sparked industry-wide conversations on work-life balance in cinema.
Rani, known for acclaimed performances in Ghulam, No One Killed Jessica, Mardaani and Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway, recalled her parenting experience while shooting for the 2018 film Hichki, when her daughter Adira was just 14 months old.
In a conversation with ANI, she said, "When I did 'Hichki', Adira was 14 months old, and I was still breastfeeding her, so I had to pump the milk and go in the morning, and I was shooting in a college in town."
The ace star elaborated how her schedule was carefully designed around her daughter's needs. "From my house in the suburbs in Juhu to that place, and the traffic takes about two hours. So I kind of made it a thing where in the morning I would leave at 6:30 after expressing my milk and I would shoot. My first shot used to be at 8 in the morning and I used to wrap up everything by 12:30-1. My unit and my director, they were so planned that for those 6-7 hours I used to finish my shoot and before the traffic would start in town, I used to be home by 3 o'clock. And I did my film like that," she added.
She emphasised that flexible hours have always been based on mutual understanding. "These things are up in conversation today because maybe people are discussing it outside. But this has been a norm with all professions. I've also done it where I have worked for certain hours. If the producer's okay with it, you go ahead with the film. If the producer's not okay with it, you don't do the film. So it's also a choice. Nobody is forcing anything on anybody," she remarked.
The 'Ghulam' actor further discussed taking a break from films to focus on raising her daughter and also spoke about the fact that women actors have to maintain this work-life balance; however, men are not forced to do the same in the industry.
"Men don't have to go through a physical transformation. Additionally, I think we undergo a physical transformation, along with our emotional transformation, as we become mothers. And I'm very happy being a woman. I would not change this for the world because I think men have really got left out on this beautiful, I would say, amazing... amazing thing that we women go through is giving birth to a child. You know, and that's the closest we come to God, I think. You know, because we are creating a life. And God creates life. And mothers, in those nine months, they become closest to God because they are creating life inside of them. And that beautiful thing, men will never understand. And I feel sorry for them."
She added, "I feel it's like okay, when they say that God probably entrusted us with having children, imagine if men had to have children they would drive people mad. Right now, they have lot of time in their hand, that's why they're having wars. If they had to have children, maybe there would be no war in the world. Because they would be busy just preparing for the baby.."
Rani Mukerji was recently honoured with the Best Actress award at the 71st National Film Awards for her performance in the film 'Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway.'
Rani's role in 'Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway' is based on the real-life case of Sagarika Chakraborty, whose children were taken by the Norwegian government in 2011. Rani plays Debika, the mother who fights the foreign legal system to bring her kids back.
Since her screen debut in ''Biyer Phool' in 1996, Rani has built a strong career. From winning hearts with 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' in 1998 to playing bold and fearless women in many films, she has always chosen roles that show strength and emotion.