Sohum Shah: I believe our industry will survive this phase

Mumbai: National Award-winning actor-producer Sohum Shah believes the Indian film industry will survive the phase of COVID-19 lockdown, just as it has survived many theats in the past.

"I am concerned and worried about the daily wage workers. We are doing whatever we can to help them. The producers' guild has started a relief fund to offer some aid. Our industry has always faced a lot of threat. There's piracy and there were years when the box office business went down due to big budget Hollywood films, yet we survived those phases. I strongly believe that our industry will survive this as well and will be back on track as soon as the lockdown ends," said Sohum, best known for the 2018 period horror drama "Tumbbad", which he acted in and co-produced.

He continued: "The only thing that concerns me right now is when will this global pandemic end? I pray to God that our doctors and scientists can find a cure to fight this disease, so that we can get back with our lives".

The relief fund that many stars have extended to daily wage workers will take care of those who are members of some association or are registered workers. But Bollywood is full of strugglers and out-of-work people who do not belong to these groups. What about them?

"My message to all the struggling actors is they should utilise the time. There are lots of good films and series on various OTT platforms that you can watch, read good books, do exercise and meditation and don't get depressed. There's a lot that you can do at these moment that will help you in the future. The most important thing is not to get depressed since you can't go out and give auditions. Still, you can do a lot at the same time," he said.

Sohum Shah was last seen in the Shah Rukh Khan-produced web series "Bard Of Blood", a fictional spy thriller on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqi. Helmed by Ribhu Dasgupta, the series received lukewarm response.

Commenting about dealing with success and failure, the actor said: "It is difficult to deal with success as well as failure. As a matter of fact, I feel it is more difficult to deal with success because people face a lot of failure in their day-to-day lives in one way or another and the best way to deal with it is to keep moving on without stopping."

He added: "Don't try too hard to think about your failures or controlling it, just keep doing your work with honesty every day and one day you will reach your goal. I feel that's the only way to deal with failure. Success on the other can be temporary and you should always remind yourself about it. Do not get yourself overwhelmed with success, and it is always better to be surrounded by friends or folks who can keep you grounded, or who can honestly criticise your mistakes".