"Work From (Cinema) Hall": Bengaluru Woman on Laptop in Movie Theatre Sparks Debate on Toxic Work Culture

A viral Reddit post shows a Bengaluru woman working on her laptop inside a movie theatre during a Kannada film screening, sparking debates online about toxic corporate culture and the city’s work-life imbalance.

In a scene that has left social media divided, a Bengaluru woman was spotted working on her laptop inside a movie theatre during the screening of the Kannada film Lokah. The photo, shared on Reddit with the caption “Blore work culture is wild!”, has quickly gone viral. The unusual sight has reignited conversations about the city’s infamous corporate grind, where work often bleeds into personal time, raising questions about the collapse of work-life balance in India’s tech capital.

The Original Post

“Only in Bangalore! Went to watch Lokah movie and a woman in the row ahead opened her laptop and started working like she's in office, typing away, in a theater. Honestly, it says a lot about how chaotic the work culture here is, people can’t even switch off for 2 hours without office pressure creeping in. Work-life balance? What’s that,” the original poster wrote on the subreddit r/Bangalore.

User Reactions: Divided Opinions Online

“I don’t think so .. Looks like working with US team and she has not informed she is going to skip work hence no other choice she has to attend the meeting.. Honestly this reeks of lack of professionalism.. not something that is cool .. Imagine someone from her team sees this and reports .. It is also negligence”.

“My husband had to carry his laptop and take a call during a Saturday brunch. His work timings are monday to friday. Most of the time he’s in front of his system. Sometimes, he has to take “important calls” even when he’s explicitly taken a day off.”

“IT in Bengaluru is an exploitative system that penalises india for having an overabundance of labour and the workers for daring to have a life beyond work. Stop defending the toxic work culture forced on us so we can export cheap services to the west.”

"Could be but also the possibility of not having a choice. Some companies do exploit labour and expectations are off the roof. In the name of Ownership and accountability you're asked to work 24/7. I used to carry my laptop everywhere with me even during my Paid Time off, because you never know at what time which client will want something."

“Narayana Murthy might repost this as newly recommended company policy.”

"She forgot to put "Out of Office", to ensure she is not disturbed atleast during this "me" time."

“Culture? This is slavery. I saw a guy working in a salon while getting a haircut.”

The Larger Debate: Work-Life Balance In Bengaluru

While some defended the woman by citing strict global work demands, many others pointed to systemic issues within India’s IT and corporate culture, calling it “toxic” and “exploitative.” For critics, the viral image became yet another symbol of how Bengaluru’s white-collar workers are trapped in a cycle of endless expectations, where personal boundaries are consistently overridden by professional pressures.