Preity Zinta weighs in on Bollywood's work hours debate: ‘Worked 18-hour shifts on Vibe to return to kids in US sooner’

After being away from the film industry for almost a decade, actor Preity Zinta is looking forward to her second film release in as many months. Following her comeback to acting with Batwara 1947, the actor will now star in Kunal Kemmu 's Vibe. At the film's trailer launch on Wednesday, the actor opened up about the long working hours she voluntarily chose for the project.

“Each to his own”, said Preity on the debate around long working hours in the film industry at the event, revealing that she worked for up to 18 hours a day on Vibe to finish shooting early. Preity, who will be seen in an action avatar in the Kunal Kemmu-directed spy comedy, said she decided to put in long hours because she had travelled to India for a limited period to complete the shoot.

“Every day we had very long shoots. So, each to his own and of course, the reason I was working 18 hours is that I wanted to finish my work as soon as I could and go back to America to be with my kids,” she told reporters at the trailer launch event of Vibe in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The debate around working hours in the film industry began last year when reports claimed that Deepika Padukone opted out of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit due to a dispute with the makers over her request to limit her working hours to eight per day.

Preity, 50, said she spent every day working on the film and did not step out socially during her stay in India. “It's not always that everyone is laughing on set. You want to get the job done. There was a lot of action. There were many other variables. Sometimes it was raining. Sometimes you were sick. So, keeping all that in mind. So my whole thing was, 'I don't mind doing this.' Because I'm coming to India. And I'm here for 30-40 days.”

Vibe is Kunal Kemmu's follow-up to his 2024 hit directorial debut Madgaon Express. He stars as a man reluctantly drawn into a secret mission. The film also stars Laapataa Ladies-fame Sparsh Srivastav, along with Vanshika Dhir, Yashpal Sharma and Dinesh Lal Yadav in pivotal roles.

Produced by Kunal Kemmu and Chirag Nihalani under the banner of Drongo Films, Vibe is an Amazon MGM Studios film. It will be released in theatres on September 18.

Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic.