A script gone haywire

Manpriya Singh

Satinder Sartaj’s Ikko Mikke had been running in theatres for three days, when a few cases of COVID-19 infection turned to a few hundred and cinema halls closed down. In the Punjabi film industry, Simi Chahal’s Instagram account is a testimony to the cruel ironies of time; one week the actor is counting days to the release of Chal Mera Putt 2 and calling all the people to theatres, whereas a few days later, the actor is requesting fans to stay put and stay safe.

Massive impact

As a distributor and producer of almost 70 to 80 per cent of films in the Punjabi film industry, Munish Sahni, straightaway lists out 15 of his films that have been immediately affected by the lockdown. “The projects most disadvantaged in respect of the time frame have been the ones that were already in the final stages,” the founder of the Omjee Group, first starts with his ventures that were all set to see the light of the day. “Right from Babbal Rai and Surilie Gautam-starrer Posti to the ones lined up for April release —that is Smeep Kang’s Gol Gappe, Kulwinder Billa and Mandy Takhar-starrer Television to Neeru Bajwa’s Beautiful Billo.”

Not that there’s any undermining the fate of ill-timed Chal Mera Putt 2 that was just three days into theatres after releasing on March 13. As the finished projects increasingly fall into the unreleased category, he thinks the producers and distributors might have to sit together and devise a way to work out release dates and schedules acceptable to everyone, once the lockdown ends.

Ripple effect

Ayushmann Khurrana voiced the thought that has already crossed many a mind — that the industry will take a hit for sure is a given, but the fact that people will think twice before going to theatres or public events! Now that’s complicated. There are far too many dimensions to the problem than have surfaced so far or we have witnessed right now or even wondered about.

Producer Rrupaali Gupta, points out to the scenarios we are yet to spare a thought to. “There is a much larger perspective to the problems. Any film industry has crew and cast from all over the country. Our light-men, art directors, and other integral crew members have migrated back to their states and villages. And I am not sure whether they’ll be back any time soon for several reasons and some of them being quite obvious. They are reluctant to come back and can they be blamed?” shares the producer, who thankfully was only in the initial stages of a new project and before being financially invested.

Which we guess has been pushed by quite some time now. But not that she has been completely spared from the ripple effect of the lockdown; with the satellite deal of her 2019 hit film Uda Aida just stopping short of a few finalities. “In fact, we were supposed to have received the money a month back but now with even the multinationals going into losses, things have been delayed.” She too feels sorry, especially for films like Chal Mera Putt 2, which she admits, “I think it would have been a hit.”

As shut cinemas, halted film sets, half-done scripts and unfinished projects stare in the face, there’s one overriding question — the lockdown will end, but will the normalcy be truly restored? Perhaps that’s why Angrezi Medium chose an OTT platform rather than count on people’s faith in the future.

An option that Munish Sahni is not really considering at the moment for any his films. “Cinema is an experience. No matter how advanced your home theatre system, it can’t replace the experience of going to a theatre.” True that as it may be, he shrugs off the ifs and buts, “Oh but we are Punjabis, we bounce back. I don’t have a doubt as to that will happen or not, but just hope and pray that happens soon.”

manpriya@tribunemail.com