Sandeep Bose

Sandeep Bose is an Indian actor and casting director who is best known for his role in popular Bollywood movies like – Dabangg 3 (2019), The Burning love (2017) and Phantom (2018). The global pandemic has led to a major lockdown in India which has significantly affected the entertainment industry, especially Bollywood. Personally, Sandeep’s life has been affected because he had scheduled a few film shootings for a web series and two full-length feature films starting from March 18th. But, in a set of circumstances that no one could have forseen, the Indian Prime Minister announced a 24-hour lockdown starting on March 22nd, which led to the cancelling of the shoots until further notice.

The Indian film industry employs thousands of people from all parts of India to perform a variety of labor work. The lockdown caused a major migrant crisis, as the labor force was unable to return to their hometowns. It also impacted the daily-wage workers financially, as they lost their jobs due to the cancellations of shoots. The only film industry workers who managed to maintain some semblance of stability during the lockdown’s lack of work are the permanent workers like camerapersons, light men, etc. who had worked in the film industry for over 15 years. These permanent workers had houses in Mumbai which eased the strain of not earning any income during the lockdown.

Even though many developed countries failed to control the spread of the virus, which has impacted the world economy, Sandeep believes that we are all in this fight together. In fact, lots of members of the Bollywood industry took the initiative to spread awareness and encourage people to follow the rules and advice of the government and other medical experts in an attempt to slow and control the spread of the virus. Amitabh Bachchan along with other actors made a video to emphasize the importance of staying at home, wearing masks when in public places, and sanitizing hands frequently during the lockdown. This video also encouraged other members of the film industry to create a motivational song titled “Jitega India”.

Sandeep shared his personal views and beliefs for the reason COVID-19 emerged and led to a global pandemic. On one side he believes what Bill Gates has said about the pandemic and called it a global health crisis. On the other hand, Sandeep also personally believes that this pandemic is a type of punishment from God to mankind for destroying, polluting, and exploiting natural resources. Since it is a punishment from almighty, he believes that we should pray and have faith in , and meditate everyday but also be responsible by taking the necessary precautions we are told to follow. Because COVID-19 infects everyone equally regardless of religion and race, and people of any social status (rich or poor), and any profession (scientist, actors, businessmen etc.), Sandeep considers this pandemic a warning from God that we must take to heart. We must respect one another and most importantly nature.