Bigg Boss 19’s Ashnoor Kaur says she worked 30 hours at a stretch as a six-year-old child actor: ‘Fainted because I hadn’t eaten in 3 days’

Ashnoor isn’t the first television actor who has spoken publicly about the unforgiving working conditions in the industry. Things began to spiral after Radhika Madan spoke about her unpleasant experiences. Recently, Shweta Tiwari said that she once worked three days in a row without sleep. “Our industry was known for the fact that no one ever used to sleep or take rest. I used to shoot for 72 hours straight, without a break. After working a 30-day schedule, I used to get payment for 45 days, and that is because my first shift used to be from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening, and the second shift was from 7 in the evening to 2 am in the morning,” she said on Bharti Singh’s podcast.

Hiten Tejwani said that he would feel guilty about taking breaks. “I have worked non-stop for an entire month — sometimes more than 24 or even 48 hours straight without realising it. We would just sleep on set, covering ourselves with a black cloth while the lighting was being set up. In those moments, we would close our eyes for a quick 10-minute power nap, then wake up and get back to the scene,” he told Digital Commentary.

Krystle D’Souza said that things were so bad that ambulances had to be called when actors would collapse out of exhaustion. “I have shot for 60 hours non-stop. I have fainted on the sets so many times. The team had to call for an ambulance. I would get IV drips and medicines, and go back to shoot. There was no time even go to the hospital, (laughs) they would bring the hospital on set. It was taking a toll on me, I was not able to keep up anyway. But that was necessary for me to get good at my craft,” she said, noting that the experience made her strong.

Actor-politician Smriti Irani, who recently made her comeback on television, once said in an interview with Neelesh Misra that she was summoned to set a day after having a miscarriage. Narrating a showdown she had with Balaji chief Ekta Kapoor, she said that she took proof with her. “The next day, I took all my medical papers to Ekta to tell her it is not a drama. She got uncomfortable and told me not to show the papers. I told her, ‘Foetus bacha nahi, warna woh bhi dikha deti (I would have shown you the foetus also had it been there),” she said.