Himani Shivpuri rues the absence of any provident fund for actors, as many face financial crisis amid pandemic

Himani Shivpuri says the stress is much more on many older actors as they do not have any income to fall back on at the time of such a crisis

The stalling of shoots and work coming to a halt in the entertainment industry yet again, has taken a toll on the livelihoods of many. Actor Himani Shivpuri points out that the stress is much more on the older actors, as they don’t have any income to fall back on at the time of such a crisis.

Himani Shivpuri bats for pension fund for older actors.

“It’s very tough. We actors, especially the older ones, earn only when we work. But now, with work happening, it’s a struggle. We have nothing to fall back on,” she rues, adding, “They call this an industry but it hasn’t given the status of film industry nor does it function like one. Our income now is zero as there’s no work, but it is tour fault?”

Calling it a “struggle” for the past one year, the 60-year-old shares, “Income has been very sporadic for people in our industry for the past one year now. It’s really a bad scenario. Yes, we actors are probably not in a situation as bad as many others but struggle is struggle.”

Shivpuri, who’s part of TV show Happu Ki Ultan Paltan, stresses on the urgent need to modify the financial structure of actors to enable them to deal with such crisis.

The actor, however, isn’t losing hope just yet. “Now what we can do is keep healthy and survive this pandemic. Only when we survive, we’ll be able to go out and earn our livelihood again,” she says, adding, “With the current scenario, with the lags in medical infrastructure, we need to take care of our own security, stay at home and take all precautions. We need to build our immunity, and work on our emotional and physical strength.”