New Delhi: When Karan Johar asked Rashmika Mandanna what Bollywood could learn from the Telugu film industry, the actor spoke about negotiating working conditions. During the rapid-fire round of the second episode of Koffee With Karan, Mandanna said that the Hindi film industry should learn to “pack up by 6 pm.”
Her statement comes even as the most recent public spat on working hours in Indian cinema involved Telugu director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the filmmaker behind Mandanna’s Animal (2023). Deepika Padukone exited Vanga’s Spirit in April 2025 after her reported demand for an eight-hour shift was turned down by the makers.
In October 2025, Padukone said that many male superstars have worked eight-hour days for years without it making headlines or facing scrutiny. She stressed that her position was about achieving better work-life balance and improving working conditions for film crews as well.
“I think only someone who has worked in the system enough will know the conditions that we work in. I am saying this as if I may say so…a top star. Imagine what the working conditions must be like for everyone else in the crew,” Padukone told Brut.
The dispute surrounding Spirit was reportedly about more than just working hours. A source close to the production said Padukone’s demand for an eight-hour day was not the major issue, and alleged other demands, including a fee hike, a profit share, and reluctance to deliver dialogues in Telugu. Vanga’s brother Pranay later claimed she also asked for 10 per cent of the film’s profits.
Notably, Devarakonda collaborated with Vanga on Arjun Reddy (2017), the Telugu blockbuster that proved to be a major turning point in the actor’s career. Mandanna, on the other hand, worked with Vanga in Animal alongside Ranbir Kapoor.
The trio has recently made headlines after Vanga praised Vijay and Mandanna’s performances in Ranabaali (2026).
Revolutionaries cast on working conditions
Actors Bhuvan Bam and Rohit Saraf also called for better working conditions and shorter working hours in September.
“I have been on sets where the food is given according to hierarchy,” Bam told ThePrint, ahead of the trailer launch of his upcoming Prime Video series, The Revolutionaries.
Saraf turned his attention to the lightmen, who he said often bear some of the longest and most physically demanding working hours on a set.
“They are the first ones to come in the morning, because they have to set up. They have to leave their houses at 2:30 am sometimes, and they are the last people to leave,” the actor said.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)