The makers of Maa, starring Kajol and backed by her husband-actor Ajay Devgn, released the trailer of the film on Thursday. During the trailer launch of the movie, the actor couple was asked about their opinion on the reduced number of work hours for mothers, amid Deepika Padukone and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit row. Deepika walked out of Vanga’s Spirit, with sources citing that her demand for 8-hour workday, among many others, was not met by the filmmaker.
When a journalist asked if the demand of working an 8-hour for a mom is appropriate, Kajol replied, “Well, I love the fact that you can work less and…” Ajay apologised for interrupting her and said, “It is not like it’s not going well with the people. Many are understanding it now. Most of the industry, I would say, will not have a problem with this. And apart from this being a mother and working for 8 hours, you should be able to start working for 8 to 9 hours shift. So I think it’s person-to-person, but most of the industry does understand nowadays.”
Deepika Padukone and Sandeep Reddy Vanga stirred up a controversy after their reported fallout in Prabhas starrer Spirit. Several reports earlier suggested that Deepika opted out of due to remuneration issues, and her conditions around the work hours, in the wake of her motherhood journey. Soon after the speculations, it was officially announced that Triptii Dimri will be playing the female lead in Spirit.
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However, after a leak of the film’s plot, Vanga took to his X handle and shared a cryptic post and wrote, “When I narrate a story to an actor, I place 100% faith. There is an unsaid NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) between us. But by doing this, You’ve ‘DISCLOSED’ the person that you are…Putting down a Younger actor and ousting my story? Is this what your feminism stands for ? As a filmmaker, I put years of hard work behind my craft & for me, filmmaking is everything. You didn’t get it. You won’t get it. You will never get it.”
Talking about Maa, along with Kajol, the movie also stars Ronit Roy, and Indraneil Sen Gupta, among others. Produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak, Ajay Devgn and Jyoti Deshpande under Jio Studios and Devgn Films, it will be released in various languages, including, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali, for a pan-India reach. The film is scheduled to hit the theatres on June 27.
