Amidst the ongoing debate in the eight -hour work shift for new mothers, actor Vidya Balan expressed his views on flexible work hours in the film industry. Supporting actor Deepika Padukone’s stand, he highlighted the need to adopt a sympathetic work culture to support new mothers in Bollywood.

The film industry has seen a divided stance on working mothers since Deepika-Nandip Reddy Wanga’s ‘Spirit’ line. Vidya, recently in an interview Hollywood reporterEmphasized how women are an integral part of the workforce in the film industry. He said, “There is a conversation about this that mothers require an option to work for less hours, flexible hours, right, and I think it is appropriate.”

The actor further said, “Each industry is adopting those practices so that we do not lose children in new mothers, or women’s early years, so I think it is very important that we have flexible work hours for women.”

Vidya also admitted that she is capable of dedicating more work hours due to not having parents’ responsibilities. He said, “The kind of films I do, we cannot shoot for only eight hours. I am not a mother, so I have a 12 -hour shift in the world all the time,” she said.

Earlier, director Anurag Basu also supported Deepika’s choice for flexible work hours. In an interview with FirstpostHe said, “I do not even like the shift at work for a long time. My actors never complain about working for a long time or stress at work. Therefore, I fully agree what Deepika Padukone had to say. This is a film; I never give my actors a chance to complain about it.”

The debate around the eight -hour work shift was bounced with Deepika’s ‘Atma’ with Prabhas after exiting. Issues with flexible work hours were a reason behind the actor’s exit from the film.

Actor Triptai Dimri was signed to play the lead role in the film due to his expulsion from the film.