Unkindest cut

Contract workers bear the brunt of stalled shoots in the entertainment industry

- PRIYANKA BHADANI

ON THE EVENING of March 15, Wahid Shaikh was at the entrance of the Welcome Ground in Film City. He was waiting for his turn to do a shot for the Ananya PandeyIshaan Khatter starrer Khaali Peeli, along with other junior artistes. Choreographer duo Bosco-Caesar were prepping the 200-odd artistes for a song with a mela as the backdrop. Then a call came. Amid the growing spread of Covid-19, the entertainment governing bodies had called for shoots for all mediums— cinema, television and web—to be stopped.

Ever since he dropped out of school 18 years ago, Shaikh has been working as a junior artiste. For an eight-hour shift, he makes ₹1,050 when shooting for a television or web series and ₹2,100 for a film. He is currently president of the Junior Artistes Association.

Talking on the phone from his Mira Road home, where he lives with his wife and seven-year-old daughter, Shaikh says panic struck on the set of Khaali Peeli on March 15. “What would happen to us and our families if no shoots happen?” people were asking. March had not been kind for many of the workers; assignments were hard to come by as producers were postponing shoots. According to Shaikh, many junior artistes had been finding it difficult to get work even before. And now, their savings are drying up.

Sachin Kumhar, who worked as a spot boy (helper on the set) for almost 12 years, is also worried. In February, he worked on Ranveer Singh’s Jayeshbhai Jordaar with Yash Raj Films, earning ₹1,127 a day.