‘Respectfully, Kajol, shut up’: Social media tears apart Bollywood actress over her comments on 9-to-5 job

Kajol stirred up a massive controversy during her interview with Anupama Chopra on The Hollywood Reporter India. The Bollywood actress compared herself with someone doing a regular 9-to-5 job. Here’s what she said.

“If you're not shooting for a film, you're shooting for something else. You're working. You're attending an event. It's continuous, and I have to be 100% present. To be 100% present all the time for 12 to 14 hours a day is difficult. It is really difficult,” she said.

“When you're doing a 9-to-5 job, and you're sitting at a desk, you don't have to be 100% present. You're doing your job or whatever for the period of time that it takes,” she continued.

“You can take your tea breaks. I'm not saying that we don't take our tea breaks and coffee breaks. But, you can kind of chill out, let loose, and walk, talk and do your job at the same time,” Kajol said, leaving the audience gobsmacked.

“But, we can't. And, we are scrutinised. We are looked at. We have to worry about how we cross our legs, how we sit, where we are, who's looking at us, and who's photographing us at every point in time. It's a lot of pressure," she added.

Kajol’s reply was in defence of her earlier statement on Two Much with Kajol & Twinkle. Chopra referred to her remark on the Amazon Prime Video show.

In the second episode, featuring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, Kajol said that actors worked harder than 9-to-5 employees.

Defending her earlier statement, Kajol spoke about waking up at 5 AM to catch a 7 AM flight to Jaipur. Before attending a 3 PM event in the Pink City, she had had a “packed day”.

Social media reaction

Her defence did not impress social media at all.

“When we talk about whose work is harder, let’s just say, an actor’s schedule might be demanding, but it’s usually temporary, cyclical, and supported. A working parent’s schedule is continuous, every single day, with no wrap-up party or off-season,” wrote one user on YouTube.

“Please, can we stop this comparison of who works harder? We don’t know your life, just like you don’t know one of a 9-to-5’s, which, btw, rarely is 8 hours a day,” posted another.

Another user replied, “For the kind of remuneration actors are paid, they shouldn't have a problem working 12 hrs a day for 4 days a week for 3 to 4 months, which is the standard time a regular film gets made nowadays.”

“Actors can't take tea breaks. I mean, they don't need to. Spot boys will come and deliver juices anyway. Or tea or whatever they prefer,” commented a Reddit user.

Another quipped, “Vanity mein naps or massages bhi toh hum lete hai…(We also take naps and get massages in the vanity van, don’t we?).”

“If you work poorly, you get fired. If you act poorly, you get a Filmfare award,” came another sarcastic reply.

“Respectfully, Kajol, shut up,” came from another.