No one’s singing and dancing in Bollywood as staff go on strike to demand better working conditions, ceasing work on many productions.
100,000 actors, technicians and other workers represented by 22 unions have gone on strike this Wednesday, on the eve of the Hindu festival season.
They were ordered to be absent for work to demand better wages. This during a season when the biggest films are released to draw large audiences.
Bollywood produces the more than 200 Hindi films a year, a bigger number than Hollywood.
Despite being a multi-billion dollar enterprise, Bollywood is infamous for its poor working conditions on the ground. Menial laborers who toil for long hours are paid about $11. Their job scope includes constructing movie sets and lighting.
"Workers are paid for eight hours, but they work far beyond this. They are not paid more money and are not even paid on time," said Dinesh Chaturvedi, head of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees.
He added that "Workers will not report back for work unless we are paid in time and have better working hours."
Even top actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan were reported by the unions to have stopped working to support the strike.
Producers are working out a proposal to appease the unions.
Ratan Jain, president of the Association of Motion Picture & TV Program Producers, said: "The strike is not in anyone’s interest. Filming has come to a halt. We will sit down and find a solution."
In 2006, India reaped about $2 billion in revenue, which is predicted to double by 2012 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. But the strike could do some damage to the local economy.
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