It has often been thought that India’s movie industry is wildly different from the American movie industry, but in reality, Bollywood and Hollywood have a lot of things in common. Clearly they both have an influence on each other, and this week it seems that Bollywood is experiencing a situation similar to what happened in Hollywood last year, only on a larger scale. Over 100,000 movie and television workers went out on strike in India today, as a protest to irregular wages and the failure of producers to follow an agreement that was signed a year and a half ago. All shoots have been shut down for the time being while talks continue to resolve the situation.

India produces about 1,000 films a year, which means that there’s really no time to lose. It’s unclear how long the strike may continue for, but longer than 3 or 4 days “will be a big problem”, and this time of year is typically when they see the most movie ticket sales. Employees are asking studios to set better standards for working hours, better wages, and to avoid hiring non-union workers. They certainly sound like reasonable demands, so let’s hope that studios come to their senses soon.