In the last 12 to 15 months, the havoc that Corona has caused in the country has not only worsened the economic condition of middle and lower-class families. Rather, the roots of the glamorous and dazzling-looking film industry have also been shaken. The situation is that in the last year many small artists have said goodbye to Mayanagari Mumbai. The stars reduced the security of their homes, the demand for designer clothes also halved. Some people also had to sell properties to maintain their lifestyle. On the contrary, one thing is that many Bollywood celebs have invested heavily in the stock market and mutual funds. Bollywood stars have also discovered many earning opportunities through investment when the corridor closes in the way of earning.
There are numerous Mega Bollywood stars who did not have much impact due to corona and lockdown, but apart from this, the crisis that is happening on the rest of the industry is disturbing the entire Bollywood. The beginning of 2021 had raised some expectations. Many production houses in Bollywood, who are looking for a return to theaters and multiplexes, had also confirmed the release dates of their films, but in the last 15-20 days, due to the second wave of Corona, the producers are seen again withdrawing from the release. In such a situation, conditions do not seem to improve in the first half of this year.
Revenue from movies dropped by 80%
In 2019, a total of 1833 films were released in Bollywood, while in 2020 only 441 films were released. The theater's revenue from movies dropped by 80%. A recent report by FICCI states that the total income of the entertainment sector has come down by 24%.
Cut Designer Clothes by half
Now the stars are ordering designer dresses less often. In addition to shooting, stars used to order dresses for the red carpet, parties, special meetings or events. The cost of a dress ranges from ten thousand rupees to a million rupees. Celebrity fashion designer, Bajirao Mastani and Ramleela Costume Designer Anju Modi say that earlier every day I used to get actors' dress orders, but everything has stopped in the Corona era. The orders are halved. Because of this, I had to reduce my staff by 50%.
50% drop in Bollywood's security services
Gurcharan Singh Chauhan, president of the country's oldest security association of India, says that five percent of our security in the entire country works in Bollywood-entertainment, which has been reduced by 50 percent due to Corona because the event, Crowd, Party, function are all closed. Above all, the government has not included them in the list of free vaccines.
RK Dubey of Tiger Security Agency revealed that big Bollywood stars usually take 10-12 bouncers or security guards at the time of the event. It has just stopped. Some of the stars' houses had 20 security guards but now running only five.
Funds Investment
Nikhat Ashraf Mohammadi, chief operating officer of Mumbai-based Idafa Investment Company, says that Mumbai's wealthy section in Covid (which also has clients from Bollywood and entertainment sectors) invested as much as never before. Celebrities made investments through the Alternate Investment Fund (AIF), with a minimum investment of Rs 1 crore. In 3-4 years, it gets money with 6 times the growth. Apart from this, celebrities also invested in Stock Exchange (Equity).Our company did not have even a minute in Covid. All the work was done by phone and email. We have not done so much investment work in the last several years. People invested in shares of companies like Reliance, Ola, Zomato, and Pharma.
Depression and Economic Crisis
Actor Piyush Mishra says that big celebrities are in depression, but are in good times. In contrast, the actors who struggle and earn daily income have a greater impact of the Corona. Some people have sold property, many people around me have left Mumbai and returned to their cities.
Senior trade analyst Komal Nahata says that the expenses of A and B grade actors cannot be reduced because their lifestyle is their compulsion, but their earnings have been cut. The condition of actors below B grade has worsened. They are either taking loans, or spending their savings and selling properties. There is a real upheaval in their life because the actors in this queue are on a daily income.
According to film producer and trade analyst Girish Wankhede, A-grade actors sign contracts and take 25% of the advance of their total fee. Apart from these, 70 percent of the industry runs on daily earnings. They get paid according to daily work. Many B-grade actors who owned two or three flats sold their properties to make a living. Apart from this, going to a party, hosting a party, investing in property has completely stopped.
Only Akshay Kumar from India was among the top 10 highest-grossing actors in the world in the Forbes list in the year 2020. Apart from films, Akshay Kumar, who earned Rs 362 crore annually from endorsement and other sources, was at number six on this list.
In the year 2020, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and Ajay Devgan were among the top 5 actors in the industry in terms of film fees. Of course, Aamir Khan did not do any film in 2020, but he was ranked number four based on the fees of Lal Singh Chadha. These A-grade celebrities also had a profit right off the film thus easy for them to maintain their lifestyle.