Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan, swooped in to defend fellow B-town actress and mom Deepika Padukone in the heated 8-hour shift debate that seemed to divide the industry. The actress and mom of two, shared her own experience on balancing work and personal commitments while raising her two boys, Taimur and Jeh. Defending Deepika’s alleged decision to step away from a big-ticket project following the birth of her first child, daughter Dua, Kareena said that women in the film industry should have the freedom to set boundaries and come to an understanding with the director and producers, well in advance.
Kareena Kapoor Khan on shooting the ‘Buckingham Murders’
The actress, who shot the ‘Buckingham Murders’ while raising her two boys, shared that detailed planning that the team was ‘kind enough’ to accommodate. Recalling the shooting process, she said to the Hollywood Reporter India, “For that, I had to be away in London for about 35 days. We divided the shoot in such a way that I went and came back twice. We had Diwali in between, so we planned it in such a way.”
Kareena Kapoor Khan on work-life balance
Bebo, however, noted, “I just feel like everything needs to be really well planned and you have to be very clear right from the beginning. I’m also lucky that I would say, ‘This is what I can do. This is because I have 2 children. I need to come back. You need to shoot other portions while I come back to visit them. And then I come back and I finish the rest of the shoot’. So they were kind enough to understand that.”
Kareena Kapoor Khan credits partnership with Saif Ali Khan
The actress also highlighted the importance of support within a marriage. Giving her husband due credit, she said that managing her film career with Saif Ali Khan’s, often requires coordination. “If you’re in a marriage and both partners are working, there has to be an understanding. We can’t both be working and leave the children alone,” she said.
Kareena Kapoor Khan on making sacrifices
She also shared that this balancing act can sometimes mean turning down professional opportunities. “It is a little bit of sacrifice,” she said and added, “of time, or a film, or maybe saying ‘no’ sometimes to a film, particularly, because in that time zone, he’s (your husband) is working…”She then went on to express her full support for her ‘Singham Again’ co-star’s alleged choice to prioritise motherhood and set a work schedule. “As a woman, if you want to give time to your children, you should have the freedom to say ‘This is what I want. I can only work this number of hours’,” she said. However, she did conclude that while these seem acceptable conditions, they must be said, “Before a film starts.”Kareena won praise over the years, for being among the few Bollywood actresses who continued working during her pregnancies and even headed back to the sets to take up work commitments soon after her sons’ births. The star has been seen juggling her time between the film sets, her home and even gym and yoga sessions. She has previously also opened up about her partnership with Saif to raise her two young boys.
