KUCH BOLLYWOOD KE BADDE LOG DO SAAL SE APNE GHAR SE BAHAAR HI NAHI NIKLE HAI ..... BY Ali Peter John

That night at 8 pm our dear Prime Minister came on television and announced in his powerful voice , " aap log jahaan baithe hai , wahi pe baithe rahiye " and gave the country and its people hardly four hours to prepare for a lockdown and many people are still living in lockdown conditions even though the lockdown has been eased in certain states, but even as the lockdowns are being eased , the country is terrorized by a new virus called Omicron and people who were venturing out with some hope are now going back home to stay there till the atmosphere takes a relieving stage , which seems like a remote possibility with the number of cases of both Corona and Omicron are rising  - Ali Peter John

And if there is one place where people are staying at home , it is the world of Bollywood and especially in Mumbai .

It is painful to see how some of the most creative and respected filmmakers , writers , actors and lyricists have been staying at home and some are without any work which means that they are living in tough conditions and are finding it difficult to move out and look for work , which was not so difficult for them when things were normal .

Let me take my readers into the lives of some well-known faces who have not shown their faces in public for a very long time .

The one man who has not stepped out of his apartment is Ramesh ( Sholay ) Sippy . He has been living in his apartment with his wife Kiran Juneja and is even scared when he receives an invitation to a small function , event or meeting .

The last time he was seen in public was at an awards function and the last time the man who made films like Sholay , Shaan and memorable serial called "Buniyaad " made a film called "Simla Mirchi" and nothing has been heard about its fate .

Last month I invited him to a musical evening and the once very outgoing man didn't take my call several times and finally his wife Kiran took my call only to say that Rameshji was still to get used to crowds whatever the number .

The couple are still staying at home and planning to make films in the future , but will they be able to do anything , when the future itself is so dark and bleak with both the viruses showing no signs of leaving .

A friend informs me that Rameshji is working on a web series , I know nothing about it and hope that my friend is right .

Gulzar as I know him and as I said it once too often has mostly worked from his home , Boskyaana unless he is shooting , which means that the pandemic had not made much of a difference to him , but he keeps writing his poems and short stories for which he has to go within himself more than go out .

And even otherwise , Gulzar directed his last film ," "Hu Tu Tu" more than twenty years ago . He will certainly be involved in his daughter Meghna Gulzar's ambitious film "Sam Bahadur " .

And what more can one expect from a man who is 86 years old now and who has done the kind of work men half his age cannot dream of doing ?

The last time I who once used to meet him every week asked him if I could meet him one last time , he had said what he wanted to say in only three words , " after the pandemic " and now I wonder when that promise of meeting "after the pandemic " will come true , given the nasty mood of Corona and its more ugly sister Omicron .

My friend Parikshat Sahni was doing quite well for himself even though he is in his early 80s , but the onslaught of the viruses have kept him behind his closed doors and he is even scared of taking calls from his friends and makes brave excuses when asked to attend a function for a mere fifteen minutes .

He had written a book on his father Balraj Sahni which was received very well , but he was unhappy because the book could not get him enough money.

But I encouraged him to write another book and he was writing a book called "Encounters" , but I cannot understand how a writer who is so scared can be free enough to write a book .

There are other writers who have decided to move their offices to their residences to write and one writer who has recently taken this decision is Vinay Shukla , the writer of ,"Hum Paanch" and director of "Godmother ".

There may be many others , but saying that you are staying at home seems to have become a sign of cowardice and who likes to be called the coward even it is during these dreadful Covid and Omicron times .

A number of actresses have also been following the guidelines and are staying at home . Among the younger actresses are Tabu who was even otherwise being called a recluse , but who has not been seen in public or at any kind of shoot ever since Corona showed its dirty and dangerous face .

Of the senior actresses , Mala Sinha ,Kamini Kaushal , Waheeda Rehman , Helen and Aruna Irani were already self - locked in their comfortable homes , but they now have a valid reason to keep away from the world and thus keep themselves safe .

It is easy for those who are already living a retired life , but what about the hundreds and even thousands of people who are forced to stay home without any guarantee of their roti kapda aur makaan coming to them and their families who are on the brink of poverty and starvation ?