By: Entertainment DeskChennai | November 19, 2025 07:41 PM IST 5 min readMany actors have shared their two cents on Deepika Padukone’s debate about an 8-hour shift for actors. In a recent interaction, Shefali Shah shared her experience and how only after her web show Delhi Crime became a hit, she has been able to ask for a fixed working time on her projects.Speaking to News18, she said, “After all this time, after Delhi Crime, after me headlining a show, now I get what I ask for. Earlier, it was out of the question. For the longest time, I didn’t have any agent now I have someone with me who is very fierce and she goes all out to protect me. Also, now there is a thing of if this is not possible then I will not do the project. Earlier, whatever they say, I agreed.”She added, “Recently, Vipul Shah (her husband and producer) was talking to my assistant and told her that she has to get me out of the set after the agreed time because I can’t shoot for 24 hours. He told her, ‘She has to be taken out of there. She has to be physically moved out’. I am still made to feel guilty about it in certain ways.”Shefali admitted that though her asks from makers are very basic like providing a suite and clean toilets, she is called out for showing tantrums. “I believe I am a very reasonable person. I ask for basic things and there is a logic when I ask for things. You need a good room or a suite. But they ask ‘why do you need a suite?’ Because my hair, makeup everything is set up over there. In a hotel room, where is the space beyond the bed? So where will I keep all of these things. You want to do creative meetings with me? Where will I sit? On my bed? Would you allow it? It’s a basic thing. But people see it as luxury. If not that give me an office space where I can do my trials.”Also read | Nishaanchi 2’s climax sees Anurag Kashyap operate at melodramatic heights with a twist laden with poetic justiceTalking about how many actors ignore the comfort of their team members, Shefali said, “When I’m asking for a vanity van, I am asking it not just for myself, but also for my team. I don’t like my team standing outside in the heat or the rain. A lot of actors don’t care, but I don’t like it. You are asking for a decent van and a toilet, and not just for yourself. I also speak for my team.”Shefali also recalled how she has often paid for food for her team members as the producer refused to cover their cost. “If I am on shoot, and the producer says that I will only pay for your food, then I say okay and I give my card. I don’t want to discussion about it because it is not worth my effort.”She also shared how since she is a stickler for her time on set, this also gives the assistant directors some breather. “I was shooting a few months ago, and there is a stipulated time on my contract, so I used to leave and I remember after 2-3 days an AD and some crew members said that ‘thank God, she leaves because that way we get to go home, otherwise we are just here, we live on the set,'” she said.Story continues below this adWhat did Deepika Padukone say about fixed working hours?Deepika Padukone recently sparked a fresh debate on fixed working hours after exiting high-profile projects like the sequel to Kalki 2898 AD and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit over her demand for an eight-hour shift. Speaking to Brut India, she said her ask wasn’t “ridiculously unfair,” pointing out that several male actors have worked on eight-hour schedules for years without drawing headlines. “I don’t think what I am asking for is ridiculously unfair and I think only someone who has worked in the system enough will know the conditions that we work in. And I am saying this, if I may say so myself, a top star, so you can only imagine what the working conditions must be like for everyone else, for the crew, for example,” she had said, adding, “I am not the first one who has asked for something like this. In fact, there are a lot of actors, male actors, who have been working on a 8-hour shift for years and it’s never made headlines.”In a more recent chat with Harper’s Bazaar, Deepika also said the idea of Rs 100-crore films no longer excites her. “At this stage, it’s not about that anymore. It’s not about the Rs 100-crore films, or even the Rs 500–Rs 600 crore ones. “What excites me is empowering other talent. My team and I are now focused on that—enabling storytelling and supporting other creative minds, writers, directors, and even new producers. That’s what feels meaningful to me now.”Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Shefali Shah