 When it comes to controversy regarding water in Bollywood, the movie 'Water' would feature prominently in the list. But then the same word when used in movie (not as movie title!) never raises any eyebrows. The way water is wasted for shooting purposes in tinsel town is really uneconomical. The usage of water in any movie's shooting can’t be brought down to nil, but then sheer and blatant wastage of water should also not be ignored.
The usage of water has always been there in movies for almost all types of scenes be it for climax, romance, tragedy or disaster. From creating artificial rains to natural ambience, water is used (read: abused) for almost all purposes in the tinsel town. As per recent newspaper reports, a leading forthcoming movie used around 200 water tankers to shoot a city flood scene, while another movie "Tum Mile", used 200 tankers of water for a shooting sequence. Likewise "De Dana Dan", used 700 tankers of water for shooting the climax. It is estimated that 28 tankers of water, on an average, are needed for a single rain sequence, i.e., to create artificial rain. Worse, the water that is used for shooting purposes is not any normal tap water but highly purified. But the real waste can only be comprehended after diving into the details. Well, as they say, the devil is in the details — each tanker of water holds nearly 12,000 litres of water! Which boils down to the fact that on an average 3,36,000 litres are required for creating artificial rainfall for a song sequence. And this is just for one shot, and remember it takes numerous similar shots (and numerous days) to zero in any sequence!
Contrast this with the usage of water in Hollywood movies. Agreed, that even Hollywood movies do use element of water to lure the viewers and make their movie visually more pleasing. But then even movies like "Titanic" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" used less water and more special effects to create the desired effects and visuals.
The whole issue of using and wasting good quality, purified and drinkable water gets grimmer after analysing the situation of water in Mumbai and whole of India. As per UN reports, by 2050, per capita water availability in India is expected to drop by about 44 per cent, all thanks to growing populations, higher demand and a depleting water table. The Mumbai water authorities have reduced their water supplies by 30 per cent as the state faces huge problems of water shortage. As per official statements, the water in Mumbai presently is 60 per cent of the total annual storage of around 13 lakh million litres that is required. And this situation is just not confined to Mumbai but can be seen and felt across the nation in almost every household.
Any kind of shooting (be it for movies, soaps or commercials) should make sure that they at least decrease the usage of water. More emphasis should be given to sharing of resources and opting for natural ambience. It is advisable that instead of using purified water, more efforts should be given to conservation, recycling and re-usage of water, rather than wasting this precious resource blindly. This will not dilute the essence of cinematography but will actually help them in washing away the water related problems of Mumbaikars and India.
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