It's not business as usual for the film industry — not only impacted by the shutting down of theatres but also shooting schedules getting postponed.
Work has come to a standstill for films as many big projects have halted shooting as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Shooting for Shahid Kapoor’s film Jersey, which was taking place in Chandigarh, has been called off. The team returned to Mumbai.
Similarly, Salman Khan called off an international schedule to shoot a song-and-action sequence in Azerbaijan for his upcoming venture Radhe. The film is so far scheduled as an Eid release on May 22. However, nothing remains certain in terms of the release calendar as it has gone for a toss after the change in release of Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi.
Along with shooting schedules coming to a halt, more film releases are getting postponed. Joining the list is Yash Raj Films’ new project Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra.
Even Rana Daggubati’s Haathi Mere Saathi’s release has been postponed due to the outbreak. Production company Eros issued a statement saying “in the light of recent developments of COVID-19, announcement regarding the scheduled release of Haathi Mere Saathi, Aranya (Telugu) & Kaadan (Tamil) stands changed.”
The audio launch for South actress Jyothika’s film Ponmagal Vandhal, which was scheduled for March 17, stands cancelled due to coronavirus. The audio will be soft launched online instead.
Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) reportedly will stop all Tamil movie shooting work from March 19.
Also, on March 15, Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) issued a release asking shootings for all entertainment formats to stop from March 19 till March 31. The directive is for films, television, web series and all digital entertainment formats.
The decision to resume shooting will be taken on March 30.
Usually for television serials, there is a bank of two weeks' episodes that are already shot and ready to go on air. However, if the situation doesn’t normalize by March 30, it will spell bad news for television as well.
Kulmeet Makkar, Chief Executive Officer, Producers Guild of India, also issued an official statement that suspending shooting between the period March 19 to 31 is the need of the hour.
As for Hollywood ventures, Chris Pratt’s Jurrasic World: Dominion’s shoot has been halted for two weeks.
Also, Robert Pattinson’s The Batman film’s shoot has been shut down for two weeks due to coronavirus.
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