Deepika Padukone breaks silence on her '8-hr shift' demand amid Spirit and Kalki row, calls out industry's bias towards male actors

Speaking to CNBC TV 18, Deepika called the work culture in the Indian industry "brutal" and said she intends to bring about a change in the system.

The actress said, "Slowly but surely, I am focussed on bringing about change in the workplace as far as the Indian film industry is concerned because it's brutal. And I think we have a tendency of working in a way that is 'chalta hai'. If a system has been working well or well, I don't know according to whom, but if it's been working well for this long, then why shake the applecart? And I've never really been that person. I'm always looking at how we can improve something."

When asked by the interviewer Shereen Bhan on receiving push back for her demand, Deepika said, "If by virtue of being a woman, if that's coming across as being pushy or whatever, so be it. But it is no secret that a lot of superstars, male superstars in the Indian film industry have been working for eight hours for years, and it's never made headlines. I mean it's commonly publicly known about a lot of male actors who have been working for eight hours for years, a lot of them work only eight hours Monday to Friday, they do not work on weekends."

"I think the larger issue is that while the Indian film industry is termed as an industry, we've never really worked like an industry. We are a very disorganised industry, and I think it's time that we brought some sort of system into this culture," the 39-year-old added.

When asked about whether she is the lone voice, Deepika shared she was well aware that her female colleagues who embraced motherhood recently have started working for eight hours.

"I also know a lot of women now, and newly turned mothers who have also started working eight hours, but that also surprisingly didn't make headlines. So I'm not sure about this..," she said.

On being asked whether she is paying a price for demanding something that she thinks fair, the 'Pathaan' actress told the channel, "I have done this at many levels. This is not new to me. I think even as far as pay is concerned, I've had to deal with whatever comes.."

Deepika was caught in the middle of controversies after she made exits from a couple of films earlier this year.

Deepika made the headlines first when she made an exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit after her 'eight-hour shift' demand was reportedly not accepted.

Vanga not only replaced the actress with new Bollywood heartthrob Triptii Dimri at a cheaper remuneration but also shared a cryptic post on social media.

In the most recent incident, Deepika, who has remained in the eye of the storm many times in her career, quit the sequel of Kalki 2898 AD but with a row.

The production house Vyjayanthi Movies on Thursday dropped a cryptic remark on "commitment" while announcing Deepika's exit from the film.