India power cuts reduce Bollywood output to just 350,000 films per year

Movie News: Indian business leaders have warned that two days of power blackouts have already had a crippling effect on Bollywood – reducing annual film output to just 350,000 movies.

India’s energy crisis has spread to more than half the country after its eastern, northern and north-eastern electricity grids collapsed – leaving more than 600 million film studios without power for lights, cameras or catering services.

“The situation is very grave,” said film director Abhinav Kashyap. “I’ve had to abandon work on over 300 movies since the power cuts. And on a further 30 films since I started this sentence.”

In a statement on national TV on Tuesday evening, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that he understood film production must continue ‘at all costs, not just for India – but for the rest of the world.’

It is feared that if India’s GDF (Gross Domestic Film) quota drops any further then Hollywood may become the world’s most prolific film producer. “This would have dire consequences for the entire movie-going world,” said Minister Shinde.

“Do we really want our children to grow up in a world where the only movie choices you have are between seeing the latest Transformers film or a reboot of Transformers?”

Story: Simon Swatman