The trailer of Dhurandhar, led by Ranveer Singh, has sparked massive excitement online, with social media buzzing in support of the upcoming action drama. At the film’s trailer launch, director Aditya Dhar opened up about the gruelling schedule the cast and crew endured — a revelation that comes at a time when Deepika Padukone, Ranveer’s wife, has been urging the industry to adopt regulated eight-hour workdays.
Aditya Dhar on the film’s intense workload
Speaking about the team’s journey, Aditya recalled how the project brought together a group of people who were determined to prove themselves. “When we started this journey, there was a gap of five years when I hadn’t made a film and when I started writing, somehow, I started getting hold of people who were there to prove themselves. Our teaser has a dialogue, ‘ghayal hu toh ghatak hu’ so all of them were ‘ghayal‘ (injured) but they performed in a very ghatak (deadly) way. It’s extraordinary,” he said.
He shared that the film was made with an almost obsessive level of dedication. “Everybody has put their heart and soul into the film, and it doesn’t happen very often. The HODs got involved in the film with a pure intent. From actors, assistance, HODs to spot dadas — everybody was like iss film ke liye jaan deni hai (We will give our lives for this film). We have worked for 16 -18 hours continuously for 1.5 years and not even once has anyone complained ki sir aap hamse zyada kaam kara rahe ho. Everybody has given their 100%.”
Ranveer Singh: ‘We worked out of our skin’
Ranveer echoed Aditya's sentiments and praised the filmmaker’s commitment. “When a person (Aditya) is so righteous in their intent, when he has a purpose behind telling the story, something great always comes out of it. I also went along with it, faced every challenge along the way, and he was leading from the front with such passion that it was infectious, it was contagious,” he said.
The actor also spoke about the phase both he and Aditya were in while working on the film. “We were at a very similar stage in life when we met for this film over the past two years, we both have grown together. He had a baby boy. I had a baby girl and we worked out of our skin to make sure that our people, our team, our families, our audience are proud of what we made over here.”
Deepika Padukone’s stance on industry overwork
Deepika’s push for fixed working hours has been a major conversation in showbiz recently. After the birth of her daughter Dua, she stepped away from high-profile projects like the Kalki 2898 AD sequel and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit reportedly because her request for an eight-hour shift wasn’t accepted.
In a discussion with Harper’s Bazaar, Deepika criticised the culture of glorifying long workdays. “We’ve normalised overworking. We mistake burnout for commitment. Eight hours of work a day is enough for the human body and mind. Only when you’re healthy can you give your best. Bringing a burnt-out person back into the system helps no one,” she said, adding that her own company operates strictly on a five-day, eight-hour policy with proper maternity and paternity leave. “In my own office, we work eight hours a day, Monday to Friday. We have maternity and paternity policies. We should normalise bringing children to work.”
She also reiterated in a previous interview with IBN that women are often judged for asking for the same working conditions male superstars already enjoy. “By virtue of being a woman, if that’s coming across as being pushy or whatever, then 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. A lot of them only work for eight hours Monday to Friday. They do not work on weekends.”