This one isn't about a film or a red carpet. It's about keeping the lights on in India's most populous state, and the numbers involved are bigger than most box office totals.

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Chairman Dr. Ashish Kumar Goyal met with officials this week to review the state's electricity situation, according to the Free Press Journal. He told them to work on what's being called a war footing, pulling power from any available source to keep the supply roster running on schedule in every part of the state.

The immediate relief has come from three units coming back online. Anpara-D, Harduaganj-E and Unit-10 of Obra-B have resumed operations, adding an average of around 1,300 MW to the grid. Officials expect more in the next day or two. APGC, Unit-2 of Singrauli, Unit-1 of TRN Energy, Unit-1 of Ghatampur and units at Jawaharpur that had shut due to a boiler tube leak are all expected to add roughly 1,250 MW more once they're back.

But the state is also stitching together supply from outside its borders. A separate meeting with Kerala State Electricity Board's Director (Operations), Shiv S. Das, ended with an agreement to bring in 500 to 600 MW through power banking during the summer months over the next five years. That's on top of what UP already draws. The state currently pulls an average of about 2,400 MW during peak hours through banking arrangements with Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Why the scramble? Coal. Heavy rain and waterlogging at mining areas have choked supply to thermal plants, and generation has taken a hit at Singrauli, Rihand, Khurja, Meja, Lanco, Rosa and Bara. Officials quoted in the report put the resulting shortfall at 1,500 to 2,000 MW on an average day, a gap that's forcing the state to lean harder on both restored units and interstate banking deals just to hold the line.

The government's line, per the report, is that supply is being kept normal through better management of what's on hand and these alternative arrangements. Whether that holds through the next spell of rain is the real question, and it depends on how fast the shut units come back and how long the coal problem drags on at the mines.