Amitabh Bachchan, Ekta Kapoor to cancel Diwali celebrations, will rest of Bollywood follow them?

Chaitanya Padukone

The otherwise energy-personified superstar Amitabh Bachchan and exuberant telly-empress Ekta Kapoor who usually host their star-studded lavish Diwali bashes every year have reportedly decided to cancel their Diwali 2020 celebrations. Apparently, both Amitabh-jee and Ekta have decided not to celebrate Diwali as a mark of dignified respect to late Rishi Kapoor whose untimely tragic demise (April 30, this year) was a shattering shock to everyone.

Besides being a perfect co-star to Rishi in several mega-hit movies ( last outing together was the tragicomic Hindi movie ‘102 Not Out’) Amitabh’s daughter Shweta Nanda is married to the late Rishi Kapoor’s nephew Nikhil and hence they have a close family bonding. Since Rishi Kapoor was a very close buddy-friend of her actor-father Jeetendra, madame Ekta Kapoor considers the late acclaimed actor her extended family .

Hence both the super-celebrities have decided to call off their Diwali parties. For the otherwise prosperous Bollywood entertainment industry, the year 2020 has been particularly dull, drab and depressing what with corona virus playing the dreaded ‘villain’. Colossal financial losses caused by blockbuster film releases cancelled, production-work being stalled, cinema theatres closed and of course top star-celebrities and technicians falling prey to the cruel Corona-virus.

No wonder then, this time in most filmy homes and production house-offices the Diwali festivities and Pooja will be minus its usual dazzle and dhamaaka and will be low-key and austere, if at all.

The corona positivity rates are reportedly declining and the film and TV and web-zone industry especially is slowly limping back to normalcy. The fact remains that thousands of cinema theatres still remain closed as the partial lockdown has been officially extended up to November-end by the Maharashtra State authorities.

With the All-India corona-pandemic total figures having leaped past 80 lakhs and Mumbai city corona figures tally touching nearly 2.60 lakhs, there is a mixed feeling of flashes of optimism alternating with streaks of gloom and nagging apprehension all around.