Take 2: Bollywood gets Maharashtra government cue to shoot again, with many curbs

MUMBAI: It will soon be lights, camera, action in Bollywood again. But the new scene promises to be vastly different: No more star tantrums or open calls—everyone will now have to be compulsorily assigned a window to arrive; also, there can’t be senior citizens (above 65) or more than 33% of crew members on a set at a time. These are among the many conditions laid down by the state government as it allowed the entertainment industry to resume operations.
A government resolution issued on Sunday made it clear that the industry that employs almost five lakh people will have to drastically downsize, except of course, without pruning the main cast of a movie.
Makers of films and TV shows will have to obtain myriad permissions from the police and district authorities before they can start shooting. While casting for families, real families should be used so that physical contact is restricted. For fiction/non-fiction scenes, no audience is to be allowed; castings wherever possible are to be done via Facetime, Zoom, Skype, etc.
Bollywood will have to do away with elaborate sequences such as marriages, markets, melas, even fights, till such time as the Covid-19 threat subsides. All crew members who handle equipment should bring their own gear—not even a pen can be shared.
The resolution also states that actors should consider showing up after doing their own make-up/hair styling. They will be allowed only one person as support staff on the sets. All trials and fittings are to be done at home and everyone must carry home food.
In case of secondary/back-up actors, the industry has been advised to avoid hairdos and makeup. Every actor should carry his or her own hard copy of script and discard it after use.
Extras are to be kept to the bare minimum. In case of crowd management, sourcing of new outfits and costumes is to be avoided. “Either existing costumes are to be used or they can bring them from their personal wardrobe,” states the resolution.
An employee who is pregnant or whose spouse is pregnant is not to be allowed on sets; likewise, children below the age of 10 years and people above 65.
Ashoke Pandit, chief advisor, Federation of Western India Cine Employees, said it was a start but the age limit of 65 years would be difficult to implement. “How do you ask an actor like Amitabh Bachchan to sit home or a David Dhawan not to direct a film?” he asked.
Also, it would be difficult to station an ambulance, a doctor and a nurse at every shoot since at least 70 shoots happen daily in the city. The television industry works between Borivli to Naigaon, said Pandit.
B N Tewari, Federation president, said 80% of the lower staff who work on daily wages have left the city. “Film shooting will not be the but it is a start and we thank the chief minister for allowing the industry to reopen. By the time permissions come and the various conditions met we should be able to make a start around June 18-19,” he said.