India’s Bollywood cuts kissing scenes, epic dance routines under new coronavirus rules
- Beloved veteran stars such as Amitabh Bachchan will also be out of action as no one above the age of 65 will be allowed to work
- Bollywood is located in Maharashtra, India’s worst-hit state, which has more than 75,000 coronavirus infections
Filming will be lean and sparse to prevent Covid-19 infections. Forget the epic song-and-dance routines or the opulent wedding scenes filled with thronging crowds. Think string quartet rather than an orchestra.
There will also be no handshakes or hugging or kissing on set.
The Guild’s strict guidelines for the industry, which employs some 300,000 workers, is linked to the fact that Mumbai, home of Bollywood, has been engulfed by the pandemic with some 42,000 infections.
Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra, India’s worst-affected state, which has 75,000 coronavirus cases, accounting for more than one-third of the country’s total.
Having lost billions of rupees over the past three months, the world’s second largest film industry is eager to return to work. Movies, along with cricket, are India’s two greatest pastimes. But the eagerness is combined with anxiety, as it is all over the country as the lockdown rules are gradually relaxed.
No one expects the industry, which generates US$2.28 billion a year, to start churning out the 2,000 films per year that used to be the norm. But some shooting will start and when it does, the crazy and chaotic scenes that once characterised life on a set will not be allowed.