Kalki Koechlin sounds alarm on “Bollywood Recession”

Bollywood is facing a significant downturn, both creatively and financially — a fact that is acknowledged by numerous industry figures. Adding her perspective to the growing concerns, actress Kalki Koechlin recently described the current state of affairs as nothing short of a “recession”. Speaking on a podcast, Kalki offered a stark assessment of the industry’s struggles.

“Recession ho raha hai… does everyone know that? There is a Bollywood recession that’s why they are re-releasing everything. There is no content. Whatever they are making is not working… that’s why everything is stalled,” she stated bluntly. Kalki emphasised that while those within the industry are aware of the decline but they feel powerless to reverse it.

"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 realise there is this crisis going on.)”

Kalki highlighted that the impact of this recession is widespread affecting everyone from leading filmmakers to lesser-known 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 revealed. She also noted a degree of denial within certain parts of the industry with many seemingly unwilling to fully acknowledge the severity of the situation.

Despite the grim outlook, Kalki offered a cautiously optimistic view on Bollywood's long-term prospects. “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.” While acknowledging the current crisis, the actress suggests that the fundamental human need for stories will eventually lead to a revival, albeit in an as-yet-unknown form.