Covid spell, spells bad days for Bollywood- again?

As Covid positive cases rise, shoots get stalled, and theatres in Maharashtra are shut yet again- does the future look bleak for the Hindi film industry? Experts and makers weigh in on the current conditions.

A string of actors being diagnosed Covid positive, shoots getting stalled and releases getting delayed- is 2021 looking like a repeat of 2020? And on Sunday, Maharashtra government announced that it is shutting down theatres and multiplexes, yet again, to curb the spread of the virus.

Akshay Kumar, Vicky Kaushal and Bhumi Pednekar are the latest cases of Covid in Bollywood.

Industry people certainly do feel history is repeating itself. Just when the momentum was beginning to build since January this year, with as many as 25 new films being announced, the latest spike in Covid cases including Akshay Kumar (who was shooting for Ram Sethu), R Madhavan, Kartik Aaryan (shooting for Bhool Bhulaiya 2) and Alia Bhatt put a sort of stop to it.

As trade analyst Taran Adarsh puts it, “Producers had started announcing their release dates, and now there’s this spike. In Mumbai specifically. It is a very depressing scenario. The first quarter has not been great for the Hindi film industry. There are financial implications as well. Shoots come to a halt, Akshay had so many projects, and now Ram Sethu has stopped. For that matter, any actor coming down with it, has it’s repercussions.”

Akshay in his first look from Ram Sethu.

Numbers too have been dismal, naturally because there was no data generated. The box office figures were increasing every year for the past three years. In 2020, Bollywood did a business of almost 600 crores in the first three months alone, until Corona struck. Hollywood films too were doing exceedingly well, with an estimated 750 crores of business in 2017, 950 in 2018, and 1240 in 2019. However, in 2021, all Bollywood could manage with limited releases in the first quarter was 50 crores, as trade expert Atul Mohan tells us.

FATE OF RELEASES

April itself had two big releases set for a release- Akshay’s Sooryavanshi and Kangana Ranaut’s Thalaivi. Mohan says they will get postponed again because Maharashtra is a big circuit, and the makers won’t be okay with films not playing here. “You can’t ignore Maharashtra is the biggest contributor to collections for any films. It contributes around 40 percent of net collection which is huge. The closure of cinema halls has come again, who knows when the reopening order may come? OTT releases are always on the cards, but every maker wants the big screen,” he says. May also has Salman Khan’s Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai and Satyameva Jayate 2. We reached out to Milap Zaveri, director of SJ2, but our efforts weren’t met with a response till the time of going to press.

Kartik Aaryan’s film Bhool Bhulaiya 2’s shoot stopped after he tested Covid positive, he is negative now.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SHOOT STOPS?

Makers who have to bear the brunt of their actors falling prey to the virus say technicians get affected too. Anees Bazmee had begun shooting after a year for Bhool Bhulaiya 2, only for it’s lead actor Kartik to catch the virus. “We were shooting with a lot of precautions, and got a lot of people vaccinated as well. But apart from actors, even directors have got Covid. The work stops when that happens, this is leading to a lot of loss in every kind of business, globally. There was a point when we felt things are coming back to normal. But the way cases are increasing now we need to take more precautions. It’s a dark hour for our industry. If things move like this, there will be a bad time when shoots might stop altogether,” he rues, adding that due to restrictions, the film’s budget increases as well. In a scenario where a shoot stops for some time, this piles on more burden on the producers.

WORKAROUND TO KEEP WORK GOING

What about the daily wage workers who work on a film project? What happens to them when the shoot stops? Ashoke Pandit, chief advisor, Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), says makers have their workarounds for such scenarios. “We have to fight this menace, and it cannot happen sitting at home, a lockdown is no solution. One has to earn their bread and butter. Initially, everyone had their sanitisation measures in place, but as time passed, we became very relaxed about rules. On the roads also you can see people not wearing masks. This is not just related to the industry. Now in Maharashtra, there’s a night curfew from 8pm. How will our late night shoots happen? We have to clarify this from the government. I think only travel is restricted, work will go on. If an actor falls sick, makers can shoot the portions without them until they get fine,” he reasons.

However, according to Akshaye Rathi, exhibitor, this same solution cannot be applied to just about every film. “There’s a possibility that scenes that require other actors and not the lead are shot on a location which is inaccessible due to restrictions. Most of these lead actors have a king’s share of screen space in any film. If any of them falls sick, they are out of action for 15-20 days. It won’t result in complete closure of shoot, but there would be a massive lockdown, and therefore loss of money on the shoot,” he says.

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