3 min readNew DelhiJul 5, 2026 09:00 PM IST There’s a lot in life Ananya Panday can compromise on, but when it comes to sleep, she draws a hard line. During a recent rapid-fire, the Call Me Bae actor was asked if she would survive a shoot till 5 am and then hit the gym at 7 am, and the actor candidly told Variety India, “Honestly, sleep is too important to me. I could go to the gym at 5 am and then shoot till 7 am, but then after that I need to sleep for 12 hours.” Dr Neetu Jain, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, PSRI Hospital, explained that sleeping for less than adequate time can severely disrupt the brain’s ability to function. The body experiences a hormonal imbalance: cortisol levels rise, which increases stress, while immunity weakens. “When experienced long term, chronic sleep deprivation reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex — the part responsible for logic, judgment, and impulse control, while overstimulating the amygdala, which controls emotions like anger and …