While everyone is asking how long after the lifting of the lockdown will cinemas take to reopen and then be filled with people, nobody seems to be asking the equally obvious question: when will the stars report for shooting once the lockdown is called off? The question has not arisen in people’s minds because, perhaps, everyone is of the belief that all human beings are ‘dying’ to get out of their homes and report for work. So why should it be any different for stars? Right?
Wrong! Stars are a different breed — and who doesn’t know that. They are the privileged lot who are a cut above the rest or the ordinary mortals. That is why they are referred to as stars. To think that they will agree to come out of their ivory towers soon after the lockdown is lifted may not be correct. In all probability, they will not be willing to report on sets even much after lesser mortals have started leading normal lives or, at least, near-normal or, as they nowadays say, the new normal lives. One is, of course, talking about the top-line actors, the ones referred to as the A-listers. Every top star of Bollywood is so secure financially that there will be no difference in his/her lifestyle even if he/she were to not work for another year after the lockdown ends. Given this privileged situation they are in, it would be natural for them to not venture out in a climate which is fraught with dangers? Lifting of the lockdown will, in no way, guarantee that the coronavirus will not attack anyone. The top-league stars may not want to risk being struck by coronavirus, more so because the compulsion for them to go out and earn their bread will not be there to prompt them to risk their lives and the lives of their family members. Many of the top stars of Bollywood are in their late fifties or early sixties, an age group which is not very capable of taking the coronavirus risk. And frankly, nobody can point an accusing finger at the stars or, for that matter, anyone preferring to refrain from mingling with other people, opting instead for social distancing long after the lockdown is called off. It’s one’s personal choice. Revealed an actress in the 25-30 age group, “I will not be shooting for a year, at least, after the lockdown is lifted. I am not prepared to take any chances whatsoever.”
If the top and affluent industrialists will take the risk and leave their homes, why not the stars, one is apt to ask. For the simple reason that shooting for a film entails interacting with an entire unit which may be of 100 or even 200 persons. While an industrialist can ensure his safety ring by interacting with, say, five or ten persons only, in his airconditioned office, a star does not have that luxury. He cannot shoot in isolation. Even if the unit strength is cut down to the bare minimum, there will be several people on the film sets. The director, co-stars, cinematographer, other key technicians, stars’ staff members, unit hands will all be needed to remain present in close proximity for shots to be canned. Films cannot be shot otherwise. As mentioned above, even if the number of people in film units is cut down drastically till a medicine for the virus is out, it will still expose the stars or everyone else in the film unit due to the sheer nature of film shootings.
Frankly, if stars don’t shoot for two or three months after the lockdown is lifted by the government, there will be no films to play in the cinemas even if they reopen. However desperate the situation, no producer is going to allow an incomplete film of his to make its way to the cinemas. And if stars don’t report on the sets, there would be no other way to complete films which had remained incomplete before lockdown was announced.
Clearly, therefore, it will be weeks or months before films start reaching the cinema halls in regular flow.
What’s more, completing the shootings of incomplete films will be the priority of every star. New projects may take months to start. Every actor will feel duty-bound to complete his work in the films which are under-production. There may be two days’ work remaining to complete his portion of the shooting, or four days’, two weeks’ or six weeks’ work but the main job of every star would be to help producers of such films reach the finishing line because of the crores of rupees locked in such projects. But for that also, the stars must be ready and willing to leave the confines of their homes and reach the sets where they will have no option but to work as a team of people. “How does a star get his make-up done if the angle of social distancing is kept in mind?” asks an A-list actor. “The cameraman has to work in close proximity with the stars,” says another. An actress wondered, ” To do my hair, the hairstylist will have to touch me, so how will we observe the social distancing part when we resume shooting?” In this scenario, it will be a wonder if stars actually agree to complete the under-production films. “It may be many months before new films take off,” remarked a filmmaker wishing to remain anonymous.
So rather than bothering about the reopening of cinemas, at least the film trade should be concerned about when shootings will resume in full force. Cinemas are the platform. Films — and completed films, mind you — are the software needed to run the cinemas. And finally, stars are the ones who hold the key to completing the software which will fuel the cinemas. In other words, besides hazarding guesses about when the public will return to the cinemas, let the film people also come together and seek an answer to the question: When will the stars return to the studios?