Actor Mona Singh has called on women to stop normalising over-working, praising Deepika Padukone for her consistent advocacy of mental health awareness in India. Mona pointed out that far too many women wear exhaustion as a badge of honour, pushing themselves through long hours and little rest, in the name of ambition or expectation. She believes this mindset is deeply unhealthy, both physically and mentally, and remains under-recognised in our industry and society.
The actress lauded fellow female celebrities for creating awareness. She shared, “I'm glad that celebrities now are addressing these issues and creating awareness. Otherwise, women in tier 2 sectors will not have any awareness and think of it as normal. When you look up to a certain celebrity who endorses this kind of app and mental health, emotional wellness, talking about periods, and talking about hormones, it's just creating more awareness. More women who people look up to should come out and start addressing and normalise these issues.”
Lauding Deepika Padukone for addressing mental health issues, Mona told us, “Every woman celebrity should address these issues. Deepika Padukone has addressed so many issues about mental health. I feel very happy to see these big names coming out and addressing these issues because it does make a difference. You're creating awareness. You're letting people know that it's okay to let people know that you're not feeling okay.”
The support for Deepika’s stance is broader among her peers. Coming in support of Deepika, Konkona Sen Sharma also publicly echoed similar concerns, “It shouldn’t be like male actors are coming late and are working late and women are leaving their children and working for long hours. It should be equal.”. In the same vein, Dia Mirza and Rashmika Mandanna have also voiced their alignment with Deepika’s message for a larger change in the industry.