UP likely to issue norms for film shoots soon

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government is likely to issue a set of guidelines that filmmakers wishing to shoot in the state would have to adhere to.

Many films, including several big budget productions, halted midway due to the coronavirus pandemic and are waiting for the government’s nod to resume shooting.

“Very soon,” said sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO).

The Centre had issued guidelines in August, allowing film shooting to resume with some preconditions which include most crew members, other than actors emoting in front of the camera, wearing kits to protect themselves. UP Film Development Council (UPFDC) chief Raju Srivastava had in August written to the government to allow shooting to resume and sought guidelines for the same.

It isn’t immediately clear as to why there has been a delay in formulating and releasing guidelines for film shooting, but it’s expected that they can now be released any moment. There are many films, including some with big stars like John Abraham, a film by Anushka Sharma Productions, Kartik Aryan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The government was in contact with several prominent filmmakers like Subhash Ghai, David Dhawan and Boney Kapoor, whose suggestions it planned to incorporate in the revised film policy that was in the works, officials said.

It is learnt that chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who met filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar in Lucknow on Sunday, would meet several top filmmakers to give a boost to his plans to develop the country’s biggest film city in UP.

The government’s subsidy scheme for filmmakers shooting in the state too has been successful with several directors filming at locales in the state.