It has been a busy last few months for Deepika Padukone, who has constantly made headlines. There have been film exits (Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit and Kalki 2898 AD sequel), another one going on floors (King, with Shah Rukh Khan), topping movie ranking lists (IMDb report), to now being appointed as the ‘Mental Health Ambassador’ by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare—a first.
On Friday, Padukone’s Live Love Laugh Foundation joined hands with the Ministry to build a “stronger, more supportive mental health ecosystem” in India.
According to a press release, in her new role, Padukone will work closely with the Ministry to raise mental health awareness and promote Tele MANAS (Tele-Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States), and other government-approved mental health resources.
Padukone’s association was marked with news interviews, where she shared how, when she had gone public with her clinical depression in 2015, people did not believe her. The actor also addressed, for the first time, the controversy surrounding her request for fixed eight-hour workdays on set, which arose as one of the reasons she was dropped from Spirit and Kalki 2898 AD.
“By virtue of being a woman, if that comes across as pushy or whatever, then so be it. But it is no secret that a lot of male superstars in the Indian film industry have been working for eight hours a day for years, and it’s never made headlines,” Padukone said, pointing out that many male actors work standard eight-hour shifts from Monday to Friday and take weekends off, yet such arrangements rarely attract scrutiny.
Clarifying Homebound
It was yet another week of the Homebound team issuing a clarification. This time, it was producer Karan Johar himself, whose comments on the box office, profits, and losses in filmmaking spiralled out of control.
Appearing on Komal Nahta’s podcast, Johar opened up about the need to consider the “profitability” of films today, a year after Adar Poonawalla acquired a 50% stake in Dharma Productions for approximately ₹ 1,000 crore.
“It is very important to be profitable; we are a commercial enterprise. I made Homebound, a worldwide critically acclaimed film, and we are hoping it finds its limited audience, but I can’t say today if I will make such decisions in the future. I will feel upset (if I am unable to), but I chose this deal for a reason – growth. Growth comes from profit, and profit comes from profitability. I will always be artistic, but it is important to be commercial as well,” he said.
The filmmaker was slammed for his comments on social media, where people questioned why Homebound, armed with global acclaim and selected as India’s official entry for the Oscars, was not given a wider release. Johar later issued a clarification regarding Homebound, which has minted over ₹3 crore in limited screens in India.
“I humbly request my friends and members in the media to not misconstrue or misquote my comments on our film Homebound… it was an academic chat on the business of our movies… I am and will always be exceptionally proud of Homebound… it will always shine in our repertoire of films as one of our finest and most sensitively performed and directed films…We are actively working towards making our film get a large audience and presence on a global stage and are thrilled with the day-on-day increase in domestic footfalls as well,” read his full statement.