Producer Nivedita Basu opines on recession setting in, “There will be cutbacks, downsizing, which is I think only fair”!

Producer #NiveditaBasu says that while the entertainment industry will probably not get hit that hard during the upcoming recession, she adds that there will be major changes, which people need to adapt to.

“I do agree with that. Recession or no recession, entertainment is something that doesn’t really go away. But there are setbacks because of recession even in the industry. There will be cutbacks, downsizing, which is I think only fair,” she says.

She adds, “I think as humans also who are in the industry, we should look at living a normal and a grounded life. The problem only happens when you escalate your life so much because of the amount of money you earn and then suddenly you have to have that set back, so how do you maintain that lifestyle? If you lead a simple life, I don’t really think recession hits you that hard. There will be job cuts, so what I tell the new kids is that make yourself indispensable. Add qualities to yourself which are more than what your job entails.”

The competition is increasing day by day although the opportunities have also increased because of new platforms. However, it is still important for you to stand out, says says, adding, “See, when people say that earlier there was no competition and that’s why you became a leader, I think that is untrue. I think competition has always been there but like I said what is your USP. You cannot be doing what others are doing. You have to have something which is different for which you will stand out, for which there will always be an audience. Like, at Atrangii, what we do is we make low cost content. So recession or no recession, it’s not like there is a price cut. This is what we make and this is what we are. I think the bigger platforms and bigger channels also need to do that. There needs to be a little bit of check on the costing. I’m not saying producers should go bankrupt, but just the margins need to be reduced.”

And competition should be dealt with constructive actions, she says. “How do you fight competition? Firstly, it needs to be healthy. It doesn’t really have to drive you mad and put you into a negative zone. You have to see that this person did well doing this, what is that I can bring on the table. It can’t be exactly what the other person has brought. So, if you live a grounded and a middle class life, it won’t be tough to pass any phase but if you think that today you get extra money, you escalate your life and tomorrow again there is down, that’s when the problem hits,” she adds.