A healthy work environment that follows a proper schedule and allows one to take off and relax is ideal. But that isn’t the scenario in most sectors, television is no different. The strain of working 14 to 16 hours a day on set results in a poor work-life balance. There isn’t enough time for someone to spend some time with their loved ones and themselves, and deal with their personal issues. Tunisha Sharma’s passing has raised these questions once again as many felt that a discussion around it to find a solution is long due. News anchor turned actor Charrul Malik shared her opinion. The Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai star talks about her personal experiences and if counselling on set could be a solution, if yes, then how frequently it should be available.
“Working for 14-16 hours is not good for anybody, whichever field they are in. We are fortunate that though Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai shoots are flexible, we don’t have to shoot for it daily. If the scene has my requirement then I shoot for it and after 3-4 hours I get free. Many times the other team members have a shift time from 2pm-9pm. We rarely have a 9-9 shift. Shooting for many hours affects your overall well being. There are people of all age groups who work in different shows. Tunisha started as a child artist and somewhere that age and stage is very challenging for an adolescent who is moving towards the teenage years. Looking at the scenario, I feel a change is required. Before this when I was in the media, I also had to overwork. I have also shot for a film and therefore from experience what I can say is that the most challenging field is media, where you don’t know about the working hours at all as anything can happen anytime. While working constantly you don’t pay attention to your mental or physical. Sometimes, when you have a good company then you are fortunate, while the absence of positive people around you makes it worse. I am hoping for this discussion on a larger scale in order to reach a solution,” she says.
From the outside, people find this life very glamorous. Social media adds to the sham. So, it’s high time that this discussion happens, feels Charrul.
“Tunisha was too young to achieve whatever she has. At her age, youngsters study, spend time with their parents, family and friends. It’s a very crucial time when your mind can certainly not get diverted or else you feel mentally abused and might not be able to understand the symptoms of depression. I think somewhere she was depressed. When I was in the media I couldn’t balance my work and family. I was never able to spend time with my mom as due to my tight schedule I could not visit them in Chandigarh often, I hardly got any leaves. My personal life by default got sidelined. It’s been 7 years that my mom passed away. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour and at that time also I didn’t get leaves. When I got to know that she has cancer and my mom has hardly 4 months left to live, I was still recording for my show. I recorded my next four episodes and went to my mom,” she gets emotional.
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Therefore, Charrul opines that not only TV, but the news media world in general also needs to discuss this work-life balance. The reason being there are so many who work continuously and hardly get any leaves.
“I think counselling is a must at least once or twice a month. Once in two-three month would also be good because there are many people who want to tell things but can’t because of the fear of being judged or too many people coming to know about it. You can’t open up to anyone as you can’t trust everyone. We all think that we are fit but it’s really important to vent out and talk to councillors so that we feel better. If you are mentally fit then you can run in this rat race and win it too,” she ends.
