◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek August 3, 202013COURTESY
HATS
OFF
PRODUCTIONS.
DATA:
KPMG
showcasesavailableasIndianscontinuetoshelter
inplacewhilegrapplingwithincreasedoversight
froma governmentthat’sstrugglingtocontaina
worseningviraloutbreak,nowthethird-largestin
theworld.Theresultingclashbetweencreativity
andcautionhaspoisedIndia’salmost$34billion
entertainmentindustryataninflectionpointthat
somesaycouldchangeit forever.
Thesurgingrelianceondirect-to-homedistri-
butionisencouragingproducerstoexperiment
withgenresandstorylinesthatdon’tfitthetradi-
tionalformulaforIndianfare.Sucheffortsinclude
Netflix’sIndianMatchmaking. Therealityshowon
arrangedmarriageshasbecomea hitaspeople
remainhomebound;it’salsosparkingcontroversy
foritsportrayalofcasteandobsessionwithfair
skin,qualitiesIndiansconsiderwhenchoosinga
suitablemate.AnotherisHomeStories, a collection
offourrough-hewnshortfilmssetamidthelock-
downthatplayofftheanxietyandconfusionthat
quarantinecreates—everythingincludingwatching
thedeterioratingmentalhealthofonehomebound
characterandthetaleofa deliverymanworking
duringthepandemic.
Theshiftalsoopensupmorespaceforgrittier
dramassuchasAmazonPrime’sacclaimedPaatal
Lok, a glimpseintothenetherworldofIndianpolic-
ing,becausestreamedcontentisabletobypass
thecountry’scensorboardthatoftenbedevils
multiplex-boundproductions.
“Ratherthansignalingtheendofthebigbox
officenumbers,insteadwe’reseeinga broaden-
ingofthefield,”saysDavidLunn,a researcher
atUniversityofLondon’sSchoolofLanguages,
Cultures& Linguistics.“Inthisnew,morediverse
landscape,therewillbegreaterspaceforexperi-
mentationandnovelty—andfailure—andfilmmak-
ersarealreadytryingtheirhandatnewformats.”
Still, all experimentsneed tocomply with
the16-pageprotocolissuedbythegovernment
inMaharashtra,theIndianstatethat’shometo
Bollywood’scapitalcityofMumbai.It advisesstu-
diostocastreal-lifekinasfamilymembersonscreen
tolimitstrangersinteracting.Therearedailytem-
peraturechecks,plusfumigationofsetsandediting
rooms.Peopleolderthan 65 aren’twelcomeonthe
setinanindustryknownforitsgeneration-spanning
sagas. No wedding, marketplace, or fight scenes,
which typically involve crowds, are allowed. And
only a third of pre-Covid-era crew is permitted on
set during filming.
Producer JD Majethia came up with a quirky
way to combat virus transmission on the set of
his television show, Bhakharwadi: Everyone is
required to carry an umbrella on the shoot floor.“Holdinganumbrellaautomaticallyensuressocial
distancing, so nobody can brush past another even
by mistake,” he says. Masks—and umbrellas—aren’t
ditched until the cameras begin to roll.
“We have tweaked our script wherever possi-
ble to reduce the number of actors in a frame,”
Majethia says. “We’ve also tried to shoot with mul-
tiple cameras in such a way that actors appear to
be sitting closer when they are actually sitting fairly
apart. I recently told a writer that we can easily
swap a kissing scene with an air kissing one and
still retain the underlying emotion in the scene.”
R. Balki, who previously directed Bachchan
inthehitsPaaandCheeniKum, firstgota taste
ofCovidconstraintswhenheshota coronavirus
public-awareness campaign in May. Everyone had
to enter the set through a tunnel from which dis-
infectant was sprayed. They wore face shields and
had doctors in full protective gear on standby.
Sanitized costumes were sent to actors in advance,
and Akshay Kumar—who has received India’s
National Film Awards for two of his films—came
dressed from home and did his own makeup.
“I won’t say it was a pain, but it requires a bit of
care,” says Balki, who shot the public-service spot
with only 20 crew members, instead of the typical- The backdrop of his campaign was an unchar-
acteristically deserted Indian village square.
Sanjay Jadhav, who’s directed several Marathi
language films, says he’s changing scripts to have
a maximum of three people in the frame at a time.
Actors are becoming increasingly vocal on the
risks they face on set and off, says Jadhav, who also
expects retaliation from unionized crews who may
be laid off because of the sparer productions.
Popular TV actress Hina Khan shared on
Instagram how unsafe she felt while dubbing dia-
logue for a recent production, first with a mask
on and then without. “I was told my voice is not
clear. ... I realized it’s so, so unsafe to inhale and
exhale so close to the microphone. ... God knows
how many have dubbed in the same studio before
me. ... God knows who amongst them was a car-
rier,” she wrote.
Film financiers have begun buying an add-on
Covid coverage for lead actors as part of their
key man insurance policies, according to Sonam
Chandwani, managing partner at law firm KS Legal
& Associates in Mumbai, which says it has about
30 media clients. The firm is also bolstering the force
majeure clauses in contracts, which allow provisions
to be breached as a result of circumstances beyond
human control, to cover any future lockdowns.
Kasbekar, who was supposed to start shoot-
ing his Run Lola Run remake in April, changed
180b900▼ India film industry
revenue,in rupees, by
fiscalyear
◼Theatrical
◼Cableandsatellite
rights
◼Digitalrights
◼Other2015 2019▼ Lights, camera, social
distancing
① Only one-third of the
pre-Covid crew can be
on set
② Daily temperature
checks for all cast and
crew
③ Daily fumigation of
sets and editing rooms
④ Make-up artists and
hair stylists must wear
face shields
⑤ Actors encouraged
to bring their own food,
do their own makeup
⑥ No wedding,
marketplace, carnival,
or fight sequences
⑦ Staggered lunch
breaks to avoid
crowding
⑧ No one in the cast or
crew can be pregnant
⑨ Wardrobe fitting
to be conducted
over Skype, Zoom, or
Facetime
⑩ No handshakes,
hugs, or kisses to say
hello