#GoaLockdown: Shoots left hanging again?
The second Covid wave has gripped the entire nation. A lot of projects being shot in Maharashtra had to shift their shoot to other places like Hyderabad and Goa. However, now Goa has also imposed a lockdown on May 3. What happens to those shoots now?
JD Majethia, Chairman, TV division of IFTPC and producer, tells us work will continue, “I haven’t heard from anybody that the shoot has stopped. I am sure producers are looking at managing the shoot. Most of them are not shooting outside on the streets. There is a bio bubble.” Echoing the same is actor, CINTAA senior joint secretary & chairman, Outreach Committee, Amit Behl. “Our treasurer of CINTAA Abhay Bhargava is shooting in Goa and told me that they cut down the crew from 60 to 35-40 so they can shoot in a bubble. I am also going to go outdoors for the shoot of my new show, and we are hopeful that we would be allowed to work,” he tells us.
A number of TV shows including Yeh Hai Chahatein, Kumkum Bhagya and Kundali Bhagya were being shot in the beach state. Recently, even a film, Ek Villain Returns, was canned.
The status is unclear at the time of going to press for some shows. Pooja Banerjee, who stars in Kundali Bhagya, says, “Our entire hotel has been booked by the production, there is no outsider.” Ashoke Pandit, chief advisor, Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) says, “Agar outstation gaye hain shoot karne ke liye, kharcha toh hota hi hai, and then there’s a lockdown. That increases production cost. We are also requesting the government of Maharashtra to at least allow post production work as that happens in a closed atmosphere.”