Strike Fever Hits Bollywood

Hold on! Hollywood isn’t the only film capital that can be affected and completely shut down by a strike. Bollywood, that other great center of filmmaking has also been struck with strike fever when over 147,000 workers from 22 different unions walked out on Wednesday literally shutting down India’s film industry completely. The workers included extras, background singers and frontline dancers, as well as technical crews ranging from props, lighting and camera operations.

Bollywood had about 40 films in production this week and each have shut down until the “noncooperative movement” chanting crowd of workers get what they believe is a fair shake from the studios. Sets, locations and soundstages are completely empty with the echo of nothingness.

Exactly what is it that the workers want? Compared to what their counterparts in Hollywood would demand, these film worker’s demands are quite modest — No more than a 12-hr workday (maximum), paid on-time and better risk management to improve safety conditions to reduce on-the-job injuries and compensation.

They aren’t asking for any kind of substantial pay raises, health benefits or shares of the studio’s profits. Currently the average studio crew hand and extra receives around $12.50 (USD) a day if working on a film project and $10.45 per day for television work. Also, as things currently stand, all workers have to wait 3-months after the job is completed before seeing any kind of compensation.

The strike should not have come as a surprise to studio heads because worker union reps have been issuing complaints over these poor conditions for months. With no adequate response, the workers voted for the walk-out which went into effect on Wednesday. One of the things favoring the striking workers is the amount of vocal support they are getting from some of Bollywood’s biggest screen talent. A growing number of actors are biting at the ears of their studio bosses urging them to give the workers their modest demands, especially as the fall season tends to be one of Bollywood’s biggest times of the year for new releases.

Of course, as is the case with nearly all management everywhere and in every industry, they are taking a hard stance and voicing a militant tone. One studio head even went so far to say, “”We can wait for six months if necessary.”

The fat cats can wait, but the workers, without a strike fund, already strapped for cash, with families to care for, may not be able to.