‘Bollywood is in recession’: Kalki Koechlin says creative teams are being fired, smaller actors haven’t had work in 2 years

“Kyunki kisiko pata nahi kya chal raha hai… kya nahi chal raha hai… kuch predictions nahi ho raha hai… so everything is stalled… everything is stuck… creative teams are being fired and rehired… they just don’t know why it’s not working… and I think people don’t realise there is this crisis going on.” (Because no one knows what’s working… what’s not working… there are no predictions happening… so everything is stalled… everything is stuck… creative teams are being fired and rehired… they just don’t know why it’s not working… and I think people don’t realize there is this crisis going on.)

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The impact, she said, is not limited to one section of the industry, it spans from top-tier filmmakers to struggling actors. “From top to bottom I have spoken to people… and at the top, they are like, 7 films… crores of money being just spent and they can’t find a platform to release. And now there are smaller actors who haven’t had work in 2 years.” She also noted a growing sense of denial within the certain segments of the industry, suggesting that many are reluctant to admit the extent of the crisis.

When asked about the future of Bollywood and whether the film business can revive itself,  Kalki offered a cautiously optimistic outlook: “It will change, it will adapt to the next thing. There was a time when circus was big, there was time when theatre was big. Those also got a renewed life when, say, people wanted suddenly live concerts… and there was a time when it disappeared, and now it’s picking. So things will keep changing, formats will keep changing. And people need stories, will need it, and it’s just in which format it comes, who knows.”