A NOVEL SCENE: ACTORS WORK FROM HOME
Almost 50 days in lockdown mode, actors are now shooting content on their own, at their homes
The ongoing lockdown has been tough for many, but it has also brought people’s multi-talented avatars to the fore — from cooking and cleaning to creating content from within the confines of home. Of late, a lot of professional content has been streamed out directly from the homes of actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Varun Dhawan, as well as makers such as Raj Nidimoru-Krishna DK, among others.
For starters, Bachchan — under the ‘on-phone direction’ of filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari — shot a new promo for a game show, at his Mumbai home, by himself. A micro-series titled A Viral Wedding: Made In Lockdown — directed by Shreya Dhanwanthary, and mentored by Raj and DK — was shot by actors at their homes. Salman Khan’s new song, Tere Bina — also starring Jacqueline Fernandez — was shot at his Panvel farmhouse by actors themselves. Also, Dhawan completed an ad film on his own at his Mumbai abode.
Calling the song his “cheapest production”, Khan says it was “a learning experience that three people can very easily shoot a song”. The actor, who came out with a coronavirus-themed song Pyaar Karona a few days back, admits he didn’t want to show his entire farmhouse in the song, as it’s “his home”. For Dhawan, too, the ad film shoot at home “was a one-of-a-kind shooting experience” as it involved several creative and production discussions, all of which were done on video calls. “It required me to be more involved at every step of the way,” he says.
But how are the makers coping with this new style of working? “For me, it has been a very unique experience, which I never even dreamt of. But you have to find novel ways of working in such difficult times. As an entertainer, it’s great to learn and experiment with newer forms of storytelling. For the promo, Mr Bachchan was extremely enthusiastic and open to ideas. And that made life easier for us, to write, get it shot and finish work from our homes,” says Tiwari.
Experts also feel that for some time, working from home is going to be the new norm for actors and directors, too. So, while Nidimoru feels “we’ll just need to become more innovative”, trade expert Taran Adarsh says “technology can go long a way in helping create content from remote places”. “Till the time things go back to normal, creative people have to find a way to work and reach out to their fans,” he says.