COVID TALES: TV’S #NEWNORMAL
Scripts will be improvised so as to not have scenes with too many people
W ith PPE kits and sanitisers in place, your favourite celebrities have brought back your favourite TV shows on air again, but with tweaks for both the storyline and how they shoot. Shows now won’t have shoots in different locations, family together in one frame, fights, marriages or hand-holding.
‘KISS WILL BECOME FLYING KISS’
JD Majethia, producer of the show Bhaakarwadi, says a big no to any scene which shows a gathering of people. “You can’t have too many people in one frame. We also have to cut down on scenes which show someone touching an elder’s feet! Aashirwaad bhi door se dena padhega. Intimacy isn’t there on TV anyway,” he says.
The 51-year-old sums it up by saying, “Earlier, there was kiss, now it has become a flying kiss. We can’t go to outdoor locations, as that
would be dangerous for that particular locality. Though we haven’t tweaked our story too much, we have a new track.”
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES PART OF THE SHOW
Viewers who watch Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, saw their favourite characters wearing face shields, masks and using sanitisers — all as a part of the story. Pooja Banerjee, who is working on two shows currently — Kumkum Bhagya and Kasautii Zindagi Kay 2, says stories have already been tweaked according to the guidelines. “There’s no touching, no romantic scenes, no intimate scenes, or even hugging. When I was shooting for Kumkum Bhagya, literally even the elbow touching was missing. In fact, I wear a face mask in one of the scenes, and those are part of the episode. We sanitise our hands after a scene even if we touch just a glass,” she tells us. Kamya Panjabi, whose show Shakti -— Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki is back with new episodes, says that the story will change for many shows. “We won’t be able to explore much. Your safety is in your hands. The channel and producer won’t serve safety on a platter. We will only shoot indoors now,” she says.
TECHNOLOGY TO THE RESCUE?
From a writer’s point of view too, things will alter. Sumrit Shahi, who has been the writer for shows such as Veer Ki Ardaas… Veera and the recent web show Never Kiss Your Best Friend, says that as smaller units are in operation, storylines will change in terms of the grandness. “A lot of grandeur shots require many production people, and that is changing. One should be glad that work is finally happening again now. I don’t think anyone is in a state of complaining,” he reasons.
He goes on to give an example of how the shots will look like. “You write the close up scenes in such a way that the two people are in the same frame, but it’s not being shot together. Also, we don’t write crowd scenes, we will use stock footage, but I don’t know how much of a solution is that, we’ll have to use audio smartly,” says Shahi.
HANDS ARE TIED, SHOW BANKS TO GO FOR A TOSS
Producer Binaifer Kohli, who is shooting for her show Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain!, says that right now, she’s not interested in spending on costumes or jewellery for her characters, but rather on safety procedures. “I have told everyone to be six feet apart. My show set is certified safe,” Kohli tells us.
Emphasising on how even guidelines can’t change a good storyteller, Kohli admits that in a sense, her hands are tied. She says, “If I write ‘bazaar mein’, bazaar dikha nahi sakti. I want to show five people have gone to the police station, but I can’t show those five people. We are limited. We will have to shoot smartly.” she adds.