Flu hits films

On the morning of March 17, Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra's minister for tourism and environment, called J.D. Majethia, chairman, Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC), with an urgent appeal to stop the shoot of all TV shows and web-series by that night because of the Covid-19 situation. Majethia immediately got in touch with the hundreds of production teams shooting across Maharashtra.

This quarter shall be down by at least 40-50 per cent as compared with last year. —Mohan Umrotkar, CEO of Carnival Cinemas

In an earlier circular issued on March 15, it was advised that the shoots be stopped on March 19. Then, the cast and crew were put on an overdrive to shoot as many episodes as possible by then. “But with more cases and deaths being reported because of the spread of coronavirus, it seemed wise to take necessary action as soon as possible,” says Majethia, who is expecting the television and web space to incur a loss of more than 0100 crore in the next two weeks. “Whenever shoots stop, especially for daily television shows, there is a great loss,” he says. “The nature of television is such that we are presenting content 24/7, 365 days. That ensures that revenue is generated round-the-clock. There is a cost attached to it as well. Stopping that means huge losses, in terms of revenue as well as jobs.”

He is not wrong. Bikesh Jaiswal, who has worked as a production designer for television for 14 years and is currently working on three daily soaps, cannot remember something like this ever happening. The only incident that came close was the strike by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) in 2008 demanding higher wages, better work conditions and more breaks between shoots. But then, the situation was not so uncertain as it is now, says Jaiswal.

The health scare has given an unprecedented jolt to the entertainment industry. Film releases have been pushed indefinitely, theatres across the country have closed and big entertainment events have been cancelled, like Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth's India visit to promote Netflix's action-thriller film, Extraction. The launch of Disney Plus in India, too, was postponed.

No Time to Die

As it is, film releases in the first quarter of 2020 have not been as profitable as expected by the Indian entertainment industry. Its hopes were pinned on two of the biggest releases of the year— Sooryavanshi, a cop drama by Rohit Shetty, set to release on March 24, and 83, on April 10. While the release of Sooryavanshi has been postponed indefinitely, communication about 83 is still awaited. Makers of other big releases of the year are reshuffling release dates to avoid clashes and to minimise losses. The release dates of international productions, too, like Disney’s Mulan, the latest James Bond film No Time To Die, and the sequel to A Quiet Place, have been postponed.

Ajay Mehta, MD of the GroupM-owned Interactive Television, says that till March 12, when many state governments had not yet ordered theatres to close, the footfall had not reduced as expected. “Maybe that is the reason why Baaghi 3 and Thappad were still doing reasonably well,” he says.

Sooryavanshi

“The situation is really bad, no doubt,” says Mohan Umrotkar, CEO of Carnival Cinemas. “People started pulling out their advertising campaigns since the beginning of March. Our business is going to be affected badly in the long run. This quarter is completely washed out and shall be down by at least 40-50 per cent as compared with last year.” Although optimistic that the industry will bounce back once the situation gets under control, he speaks at length about how expensive it is to run a theatre business, with most cinema spaces rented out in malls. “If the situation continues in April, the government may have to consider giving some kind of relief sooner or later,” he says.

If there is a complete lockdown, the losses are going to be tremendous, says Mehta. He recalls the tiff between producers and exhibitors over revenue sharing in 2009, which had led to theatres being closed for around 40 days. It was a huge blow to the exhibitors. “But once the theatres opened with Kabir Khan’s New York, the pent-up demand led to the film doing exceptionally well,” he says.

Divya Radhakrishnan, managing director, Helios Media, says that advertisements will anyway not work in these times. “Who is interested in buying products right now?” she asks. “People are not in a frame of mind to go and buy a mobile phone. It is their health that is most important, and the panic around loss of business just seems unnecessary.”

Majethia agrees. “It is a difficult time and we are looking at every possible way to ease the financial burden of the staff members,” he says. “But on humanitarian grounds, we have to consider the seriousness of the pandemic. We don’t want India to suffer in the same manner as China, Italy, Iran and Spain. We have to acknowledge that we don’t have the kind of infrastructure as many other countries. It will be a bigger calamity here if things go on as usual.”

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