How 2020 has proved to be the most catastrophic year for the Entertainment industry

Novelist and journalist, Margaret Mitchell, had once said, “Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect”. And her words perfectly sum up this great mystery called ‘life’. Off late, we all are pondering and self-introspecting about all the hardships that we are facing currently and wondering what the future holds for us.

The year 2020 seems to be straight out of a nightmare. And I think I will be speaking for everyone when I say that so far 2020 has been one of the worst years of our lives. And yes, I am not just talking about the mayhem caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. It is so much more than that.

In the month of April this year, the film industry received not just one but two blows in the form of terrific actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor’s death. The two of the most celebrated actors died a day after the other and even before the news of Irrfan’s death could sink in, we were hit by the grief caused due to the untimely demise of veteran actor Rishi Kapoor.

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Losing the two gem of the power-house performers did leave a huge void and no matter what, that void could never be fulfilled. Ironically both of them were diagnosed with cancer. Despite their diagnosis, they still managed to ooze positivity and that in itself shows how much impact they had on our lives even when they were going through the lowest phase of their lives.

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Then last month veteran lyricist Yogesh Gaur too bid the world goodbye. The 77-year-old lyricist gave us some of the most memorable and hummable songs like ‘Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye’ and ‘Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli’ from ‘Anand’, ‘Rajnigandha Phool Tumhare Mehke Youhi Jivan Me’ and ‘Kai Baar Yunhi Dekha Hai’ from ‘Rajnigandha’ and ‘Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha’ from ‘Baaton Baaton Mein’ to name a few.

After the unfortunate demise of these legendary stalwarts of the Hindi film industry, today we woke up to the horrific news of music composer Wajid Khan’s death. The soft-spoken composer was not keeping well since the last few years owing to a kidney transplant and today he breathed his last after suffering a massive heart attack. The talented music composer who made most of Salman Khan’s films a huge hit through his foot-tapping and chartbuster songs left us too soon. He was even infected with the deadly Coronavirus.

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The Covid-19 induced lockdown too has become the cause of everyone’s despair. Several people have lost their jobs. The daily wagers of the industry are now at the mercy of the A-listers stars and the association. Uncertainty about the future and financial crisis caused by the lockdown has driven people to even take up the drastic step of committing suicide! In the last few weeks, not one but two young television actors- Manmeet Grewal (32) and Preksha Mehta (25) ended their life due to depression caused by the financial crisis and loss of work.

 

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A post shared by @Manmeet Grewal(Stylish Singh) (@manmeetgrewal69_official) on Apr 25, 2020 at 11:54pm PDT

With films’ release date being postponed to shootings of the shows being halted indefinitely, the entire industry has come to a standstill. The lockdown has crippled the entertainment industry in almost all imaginable ways. Several films that were supposed to release on festive dates are now put on hold. Now it is uncertain exactly when the lockdown will be lifted, so obviously the entire release calendar of the film industry will have to be changed now. Big-ticket filmmakers will once again lock horns to release their films on the most profitable or festive period. The massive shuffle in the release dates will cause huge distress to small budget films which anyways always struggle to even see the light of the day forget about a solo release.

Erected sets being destroyed, budgets have gone overboard and recurring loss due to waste of time there’s a huge cash crunch in the industry which is going to affect everyone severely. Non-payment of pending dues, losing out work opportunity, not being able to make a profit out of the invested money, all these things have contributed tremendously to major problems the industry is facing currently.

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Even if the lockdown is lifted entirely by the end of the next month, it will still take years to make up for the time and money lost owing to this pandemic. Shooting at foreign locations amidst the Coronavirus scare won’t be feasible. Everyone will have to take more precautions and that would add to the budget. With the present being gloomy and the future full of uncertainties, the year 2020 is hands down one of the worst years in the history of Indian cinema.

And the only hope that we all can light up in our hearts currently is to make sure that we all don’t repeat the mistakes we have already committed. Everyone needs to come together to find a way out of this mess. Taking advantage of each other’s helplessness will not take us anywhere. We all have to face this together and come out of it triumphantly together.

Also Read: Are filmmakers making a mockery of the situation by rushing to register Corona in their movie titles?

Pooja Sharma

Cinephile. Bibliophile. Pluviophile. Selenophile. Autophile. Aesthete. Blood group- Tea positive. Poetry lover. Sucker of rom-coms.

PS: Sharmaji ki Ladki sucks at writing bios.
Email: editor@bollywoodbubble.com Phone: +91 8355910465