India has not seen such an economic setback since independence, according to Uday Shankar, President, The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star & Disney India. "The wheels of the economy have come to a halt during the lockdown. We should realistically be prepared for it to become worse before it becomes better," said Shankar in an upGrad video.

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Shankar expects things to get better in the medium to long term if not in the short term. "We have rolled out a voluntary program for senior executives to take a salary cut. We don't need to, to be honest, but we decided to do that as an investment in the future - we want to be prepared. People have positively reacted to this. This is the time to start investing in the next cycle," said Shankar.

As a business, it is important to reduce liabilities, build on your core strength and collaborate. "Take some calibrated risks to strengthen your business. Examine and re-examine everything that you're doing as a business," said Shankar, who launched Hotstar at a time when India was dismissed as a 'data dark' market.

In order to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis, Shankar believes that every business must hold on to any short-term capex plans, build core competencies and embark on a clear pre-defined strategy to achieve success.

With the change in the use of technology and in the way we work, who knows "The present could become the new normal," he adds.