It’s getting a tad tougher now, to be precise… depressing and fretful.
Now that all food and household chores pictures are shared on social media, depleting savings account and ‘never experienced before’ Coronavirus situation has hit all hard.
Reason? No one knows what next or till when.
It’s said you can fight market forces, but how do you defeat God’s will? It’s impossible to run away from this collective suffering of human race. More and more delay in accepting the sheer helplessness is a sign of denial of the obvious.
As grim scenes of mass hunger-cum-blood-spattered exodus of poor souls flash on TV screens, never ever in human history have we been rendered at the mercy of the unknown. You thought you were in control, right? Go figure.
All industries are hit, but none seems to care about the entertainment business.
After all, it’s perceptionally frivolous, wanton and unwanted in the overall scheme of things.
“It’s getting difficult, Sid. How do we earn? How do I pay my rent? I don’t know what to do? There is no per day. Any update shooting kab start hoga? Aapko to pata hoga na?”
Said an industry friend of mine over a call, smiling at first, sobbing the next.
Well, mujhe nahin pata. Don’t want to speculate.
With the massive economical collateral damage, entertainment business comes last in the priority list.
The belief: if you are from the nach-gaana industry, you are always, forever rich. You are immune to even global pandemics. After all, it’s showbiz and how can an actor, or a producer, or a production crew member worry about his next meal?
Personally, I know it’s gloomy. With no shoots happening, thousands of jobs are at stake, from platforms to creators to technicians.
You speak to anyone and the restlessness in voice is palpable. It’s the sound of loss, fear and dejection.
There is a rising clamor and lobbies are pushing hard to open the gates of shooting floors. Some important meetings are also underway in the corridors of power, as informed by our sources.
But the problem is, how do you bring discipline in an otherwise highly unorganized filming business?
Have you ever been to a shooting floor? It’s madness personified with confusion galore involving multiple people in abject proximity.
To expect and practice social distancing discipline would mean a joke to many, given the current norm.
The fear: What happens if all holier than thou bosses promise to follow guidelines (for business purpose) and the scenario on sets become mockery with people flouting rules a la liquor shop opening incident?
Who will bell the cat? Who will be accountable?
Forget about Salman Khans and Ranveer Singhs of the world… it’s about livelihood right from the security guard to the guy signing the cheque.
It’s about people, about business, about the industry, it’s about keeping the maya alive in the nagri.
Without shooting, there is no business. To make it happen, it would need unprecedented efforts and norms formulated and executed and followed to its every necessary bit. It’s not about being the boss in some fancy ivory tower and deciding for those whose lives are or will be at stake.
The challenge is unparalleled, the disease is unparalleled, so should be the measures and resolve to look at the macro picture and take decisions.
Delete what you did. Forget the past. It’s a full reset.
You can’t fix the model, you can’t mix-match the puzzles, it’s time for a new beginning.
Change is inevitable. Some will gain and few will lose.
Feedback, discussions, deliberations from down to top will help cement decisions.
It’s time to survive and then strive. No one’s coming to plug the hole in your boat. If it’s an industry, it should act like one, behave like one, and like other sectors, rise like a Phoenix.
If not, then we are doomed. For what is life, without entertainment?
The show must go on but will it?
