“There’s No Economic Slowdown Because 3 Movies Have Earned 120 Crore”- Ravi Shankar Prasad

Is there an economic slowdown in India? Yes, certainly so. Is there really an economic slowdown in India? Not really. The views on whether there’s actually an economic slowdown in India or not are constantly meeting polarising views and takes. But then, nothing could equal or even near the view of India’s Ravi Shankar Prasad.

So, if in case you are wondering what Ravi Shankar Prasad had to say about the issue of an economic slowdown in India, then you cannot afford to miss the following novel take.

Seeming to be in a denial mode about the economic slowdown in India, Ravi Shankar Prasad shared that how can there be an economic slowdown in India when the recent box office collections of 3 movies reveal a return or earning of Rs 120 crore?

So one wonders, thus the widely-known Union Minister suggest that the box office collection of three recent Bollywood releases- as gathered around October 2- deny the fact that the country’s varied sectors such as IT, Automobile and others are progressing steadily sans any effects of reeling under slowdown?

Apparently, the minister was engaging with the media recently where he revealed that “3 Bollywood movies have jointly collected Rs 120 crore, so there is no economic slowdown at all.”

One cannot help but wonder as to what might have various able economists and experienced scholars said about Mr. Prasad’s insights?

For the longest time now, the talks about the Indian economy plunging into a period of an indefinite economic slowdown have gathered steam. Truth be told, not a day goes by where one doesn’t get to read several sectors, including banking and financial institutions facing woeful times, at the present.

Here’s the exact representation of the minister’s statement to the media:

“I was Information and Broadcasting Minister in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and I am fond of movies. Movies have been doing huge business. Three movies released on October 2 and film critic Komal Nahta told me that the national holiday [Oct 2] saw earning of Rs 120 crore by three movies. rs 120 crore comes in a country which has a sound economy,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

That told, here’s what India Today happened to share in the context of India’s GDP growth rate and the problems thereof:

India’s GDP expansion has slowed to a six-year low of five per cent for the June quarter. This has led to a rash of downward revisions in expectations, including from the RBI which now expects GDP growth to come down to 6.1 per cent in FY20.

What’s rather interesting, however, in Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad’s comments about the condition of an economic slowdown is that it’s the first time that a leader of the current (or ruling) government has offered a rather flabbergasting quote or insight in the context of current problems being faced by the country.

Earlier, Nirmala Sitharaman, when faced with onerous challenges to find solutions to the burgeoning problems being faced by the country’s auto sector, blamed the millennials for preferring ride-sharing services such as Uber and Ola. Even that somewhat erratic assessment raised a key question: how on earth could a certain population demographic of the country be responsible for putting a major growth-driving sector toward a state of slump?

The comment, needless to state, was met with widespread criticism and trolled through social media memes on the Internet stratosphere. To that end, one wonders as to what might the reaction of the general public be in the light of Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad’s statement?