Uddhav seeks plan to resume film, TV shoots with restrictions

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has given a green signal to the entertainment industry to chalk out a plan on limited resumption of shooting and post production activities by following physical distancing norms. Seeing the impending financial crisis in the entertainment sector, Ashoke Pandit, chief advisor of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) filed a petition in order to start post-production work — editing, music recording, etc, of the movies which have been shot already.

Pandit said that if all permissions are granted, physical distancing and other precautionary norms would be followed. TV producer and actor Vikaas Kalantri said the pandemic has led to a financial crisis. “Many people are associated with the entertainment industry and most of them are those who are daily wage workers. Requests have been made to start the shoots and if they do, precautions will be taken.” Shooting schedules of several big and small movies and TV shows have gone kaput.

All the theatres and big multiplexes have been shut down, leading to a major financial crisis. If the work resumes with following of norms, it will provide monetary relief to the producers who have invested money in various projects as well as to the workers associated with the entertainment industry. Asit Kumar Modi, producer of Sab TV’s most-watched show Taarak Mehta ka Ulta Chasma, too, expressed his concerns on the losses during the pandemic.

“People who are at home during quarantine have only one source of entertainment and thus it is an essential service,” he said. The cameras have stopped rolling and the world that moves around the entertainment industry has packed up. It’s, however, time to let things move, even if slowly.