The Maharashtra government has allowed the resumption of television and film shoots in a phased manner. This comes as a big relief to the industry as the shoots had come to a complete halt since mid-March when the coronavirus cases starting rising in Mumbai.
It has also been announced that permissions will have to be sought from the respective district collectors before commencing, and for shooting at the Film City, permission will have to be sought from the Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Limited.
An SOP has been issued for the same which states that proper social distancing norms will have to be followed during shoots. The guidelines include maintaining 33 per cent crew (which will not include the main cast) on set, all staff members to carry identification cards and Aarogya Setu app downloaded. Dedicated personnel would be required to check the temperature of the cast and crew.
Any pregnant employee will not be allowed on the set. Actors above the age of 65 will not be permitted on sets, while no audience will be allowed for fiction or nonfiction shoots.
The guidelines also state that elaborate sequences like marriage, market or fight won’t be permitted till the coronavirus situation improves. Actor have also been asked to reduce their support staff to one on sets.
Taking to Twitter, Ekta Kapoor thanked Maharashtra Chief Minister for the phased resumption of shoots. “Would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the honourable @CMOMaharashtra UddhavJi, for considering our requests to begin work in a phased out manner by easing restrictions on films and television shooting,” she tweeted.