Venky Atluri asks Bollywood actors to adapt when they work in Telugu, cites Raveena Tandon's 14-hour workday as example

Filmmaker Venky Atluri spoke about the conversations around working hours in the Telugu film industry while promoting Vishwanath & Sons.

The working conditions in Tollywood have been the centre of conversation ever since Deepika Padukone’s exit from Spirit and Kalki 2898 AD sequel. Amid her conditions, the 8-hour workday was what caught everyone’s attention, with opinions split across the Indian film industry. Vishwanath & Sons director Venky Atluri believes that Bollywood actors must adapt when working in Telugu, citing Raveena Tandon as an example.

Raveena Tandon will star in Vishwanath & Sons with Suriya soon.

Raveena Tandon’s 14-hour workday for Suriya film

In an interview with THR India, Venky refused to speak in particular about any film exits over working hours. He, however, gave his opinion on how actors must learn to adapt to the industry they work in. “When a person from any industry, let it be Tamil, let it be Malayalam, let it be Hindi. When you’re coming and acting in a Telugu film, understand the work culture there, and maybe respect the culture,” he said, stating that he’d do the same if he worked in Bollywood.

The filmmaker then cited Raveena’s example in his film and said, “On the last day of the shoot, we were shooting in Ooty. The temperature was around six or seven degrees Celsius. Maybe not a big deal for people from Hyderabad. But for people from Bombay and Chennai, it’s cold. There were only two options: either shoot for 14 hours straight. Or, shoot a portion of the film here, and do the patch somewhere else. Suriya sir was willing to do, and I requested Raveena ma’am. Her manager said, ma’am will be angry. She overheard me, and she shot from 10:30 in the morning to 12:30 at night.”

Vishwanath & Sons is a Tamil-Telugu film directed by Venky, whose last film was Lucky Baskhar. The film, which is releasing on August 14, stars Suriya, Mamitha Baiju, Raveena, Anil Kapoor, Radhika Sarathkumar, and others.

Deepika Padukone’s stance on 8-hour workday

Deepika made news last year when it was leaked that she had a few demands for producers on Telugu film sets, including an 8-hour workday. After the discourse reached a peak and left the internet split, the actor explained to Harper’s Bazaar India why it’s ideal not just for her but also for the on-set crew.

She also admitted that it’s motherhood that changed her view, adding that bringing children to work and the normalisation of maternity and paternity leave must also be normalised. “We’ve normalised overworking. We mistake burnout for commitment. Eight hours of work a day is enough for the human body and mind,” she said.