Neha Dhupia backs Deepika’s 8-hour shift demand, recalls shooting with 45-day-old baby

Balancing a newborn and a full-blown reality show shoot? Neha Dhupia has been there. And she’s speaking up about what it truly means to be a working mom in showbiz.

In a conversation with ‘The Hollywood Reporter India’, the actor and TV personality opened up about the time she returned to work on the ‘Roadies’ set when her daughter Mehr was just 45 days old.

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Still exclusively breastfeeding at the time, Neha had no choice but to bring her baby along with her. “I took her with me because I was still exclusively feeding her,” she shared. “And in that kind of environment, which is still not very comfortable, you have your support staff, but it’s not the same, you have to go and have that conversation.”

And conversation she did have. She recalls telling the team that she’d need a break every three hours. “I said every three hours there would be a break because I’d need 40–45 minutes off for my child. Otherwise, my child would go hungry and I’d be uncomfortable. And they understood.”

But Neha Dhupia made it clear this wasn’t just about her personal story. Her experience, she believes, highlights a much bigger issue; the need to be more compassionate and accommodating towards new mothers at work.

Also Read: Soha Ali Khan backs Deepika Padukone’s call for 8-hour shifts: “I’d run off after 7 too”

“One has to be extremely sensitised when working with a new mum because the demands change. It’s not just her, but also her child,” she explained.

Her reflections come at a time when actor Deepika Padukone recently sparked industry-wide debate by advocating for an eight-hour workday in the film industry, a norm in most corporate sectors but still a rarity in showbiz.

Neha, who had earlier expressed her support for Deepika’s stance on social media, reaffirmed her views during the interview.

“If that’s what Deepika wants, and deserves, given who she is, it could pave the way for change and benefit others as well,” Neha said, applauding Deepika not just for asking the question but for leading by example. “I know she has already signed another project. So kudos to her.”

Because according to her, at the end of the day, being a star doesn’t make you less of a mom, or less deserving of boundaries.