AMMA president Shwetha Menon demands fixed working hours on sets
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New Delhi: The first woman president of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), Shwetha Menon has sought the industry to create ‘a more supportive and communicative environment for women artistes’, The Indian Express reported.
Menon’s response comes after Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, mother to a young child, stepped out of Prabhas’ Spirit after filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga not agreeing to her 8-hour shift request.
Deepika Padukone had previously raised the importance of work-life balance saying ‘Somehow, in our country, including the corporate world, taking leaves or wanting time for yourself carries a connotation of being unprofessional, not hardworking or driven enough. And I disagree. You can be all of those things and still make time for yourself. How are you going to replenish and put energy back into your work if you don’t’.
It is reported that like others who supported Padukone’s request Menon sought to regulate shift timings for working mothers in the field.
Shwetha told an India Today event that Industry should create more supportive communicative environs for women artistes stressing the importance of voicing one’s needs.
‘Most issues can be solved through dialogue, but people often avoid it. Even when I was AMMA’s first female vice-president, I would urge women to share their problems but none of them would. I won’t blame them. Everyone is worried about their careers. But slowly, we will bring these issues to light,’ Shwetha was quoted as saying.
She shared her experience of having completed four films while she was pregnant after informing the directors that she could not do early morning shoots, which they accepted.
Shwetha Menon and Kukku Parameswaran were elected as the first woman president and general secretary of AMMA last month after the organizational poll.