There’s no sphere of life that Covid-19 didn’t disrupt. Economically, the world is still in a slump. Hundreds of millions of jobs have been lost. In India alone, the number goes into the crores.

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10 offbeat career choices according to Bollywood 2020

With COVID-19 upending millions of jobs, here are 10 movie-inspired professions you can explore in the future

Shilajit Mitra

Published:20th Dec, 2020 at 5:00 PM

Amid all this, it makes sense that you are looking to make a shift or try something new and refreshing. With that in mind, we drew up a list of cool/offbeat career choices that might float your boat.

Hindi cinema offered a range of underexplored professions in 2020 — from the lucrative to the outright crazy. Here are 10 unique career choices according to Bollywood 2020

1) Standup comedian: In Comedy Couple, IT-professional Deep (Saqib Saleem) quits his job to form a standup duo with his girlfriend Zoya (Shweta Basu Prasad).

Comedy also comes to the rescue of Sidhi (Maanvi Gagroo) in Four More Shots Please Season 2.

And in Bhaag Beanie Bhaag, hobbyist Swara Bhasker fulfills her dream once she plunges full-time into the scene.

2) Space scientist/Astronaut: Arati Kadav’s Cargo sent Vikrant Massey and Swetha Tripathi on a meta-physical journey through space.

In Serious Men, M Nasser played a haughty scientist obsessed with “space microbes”

3) Kabaddi Player: In Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s brilliantly observed Panga, a mother (Kangana Ranaut) makes a comeback several years after withdrawing from court.

The film depicts how women sportspersons are quickly forgotten—and how there’s no real age to return to what you love.

4) Politician: In a year full of striking female roles, it’s no surprise that two of the best ‘politician’ parts were played by women. Isha Talwar played the would-be CM of Uttar Pradesh in Mirzapur 2.

Shweta Basu Prasad, in Serious Men, played a sharp ‘3rd generation’ Dalit leader who knows how to get her way.

5) Professional Cuddler: In Sanjeev Vig’s short film Call Him Eddy, Sanjay Suri plays a ‘professional cuddler’, a friendly but reclusive man who cozies up to strangers for cash.

The legalities of affection therapy are a bit hazy in India, though it’s widely accepted worldwide. It’s also telling that in Sanjeev’s film, the catharsis does not escape Eddy himself.

6) Pilot: In Sharan Sharma’s Gunjan Saxena, Jaanvi Kapoor soared over patriarchy and workplace sexism as one of India’s first female combat pilots.

With Kangana Ranaut stepping into the cockpit in Tejas, the skies look clear for India’s women pilots.

7) Ballerino: Sooni Taraporevala’s Yeh Ballet followed two male ballet dancers rising out of Mumbai’s slums.

This is Gully Boy for Fouetté turners, and is inspired by the real-life experiences of Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan (who plays a fictional version of himself in the film)

8) Ventriloquist: It has a sad history in Hindi films. In the impossibly sappy family drama Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002), Jimmy Shergill and his hand-operated puppet spent the entire film in doleful friendzone

Some redemption, thus, comes in the form of Aditya Roy Kapur in Ludo (2020).

9) PT Teacher: The butt of all staff rooms, Rajkummar Rao restores much dignity to the conventional “PT sir” in Chhalaang.

Hansal Mehta’s film cast a funny but revealing look at the state of physical education in Indian schools.

10) Vaccine Researcher: Raj & DK’s Glitch, in Unpaused, begins in the future, in the era of ‘COVID 30’. Ayesha (Saiyami Kher) is a ‘warrior’, a scientist engaged in the tireless battle for a COVID vaccine

The thought is echoed in Mask Kho Gaya, a poignant music video by Vishal Bhardwaj and voiced by Vishal Dadlani, where a vaccine scientist is hounded by politicians and newspapers alike.