During a recent appearance on a YouTube channel hosted by comedian Bharti Singh, actor Isha Koppikar and Bharti’s husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa spoke candidly about the physical toll of relentless schedules in film and television. The conversation began lightheartedly, but quickly turned serious when Bharti said, “They make you work until you can’t stand,” describing in the entertainment industry.
Haarsh added, “Until 15 minutes before you faint.” He further shared, “We wake up at 6:30 am and come home at 3 am,” though clarifying that this happens, “Just a day in a week.” Bharti acknowledged, “It’s something that can’t be done every day.” Isha warned, “Your body will give up.” Haarsh concluded, “It’s impossible. Even those who work in fiction usually do a 7 am to 7 pm shift.”
Isha also recalled a particularly gruelling phase while shooting and back-to-back. “It was so hectic at that time that I didn’t even have time to go home from Film City, so I asked the producer to organise a place for me to stay there. I used to shoot from 9 am to 5 pm, and then from 7 pm to 7 am the next day. This cycle repeated for five days, and on the sixth day, I ended up in the hospital.”
While these accounts focus on the entertainment sector, the broader issue resonates with many professionals across industries who regularly push their bodies beyond healthy limits.
Gurleen Baruah, organisational psychologist at That Culture Thing, tells indianexpress.com, “Working very long hours again and again definitely takes a toll on mental and physical health. Many people don’t notice it at first. Signs usually show up slowly throughout the body, like headaches, acidity, dizziness, sleep issues, mood swings, weight changes, hair fall, BP or cholesterol shifts.”
She adds that tolerance also drops, so what once felt manageable starts feeling exhausting. Burnout, irritability, and brain fog can follow. “Often, people realise only when the body forces a pause, as Isha Koppikar shared about her experience. So something done to get more done can actually become counterproductive if it keeps happening without rest.”
Sleep is the system’s basic repair time. Without enough of it, the body starts functioning as if it’s under threat. Hormones get disturbed, immunity drops, mood becomes more reactive, and thinking gets foggy.
“There’s a simple story. Two lumberjacks cut wood for the same number of hours. One keeps chopping nonstop. The other pauses for an hour. The first thinks he’s wasting time, but actually the second is sharpening his saw. So he ends up cutting more wood with less strain. Sleep is that sharpening. If this keeps happening often, the brain stays in alert mode instead of clear mode, and emotional steadiness becomes harder to maintain,” notes Baruah.
In high-pressure industries, Baruah notes that long shifts may sometimes occur, and that’s understandable. “The real issue is frequency and intensity. Occasional long days are different from chronic overwork. Safe systems need real breaks, recovery time, and days that are actually off. Individually, by using breaks wisely: pause, stretch, hydrate, eat on time, step outside, or simply sit and do nothing.”
“Try not to spend breaks scrolling. That doesn’t refresh the brain. Let yourself get a little bored; that’s when the mind resets. Notice your signals as well: sleep, mood, focus, patience; they show your limits. Think in rhythms, not rigid balance. As an organisational psychologist, I’ve seen many people in demanding careers work in intense bursts, then consciously recharge. That reset is what keeps performance and health steady,” concludes the expert.
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