Producers Guild of India Offers Clarification over New Protocol for Bollywood to Resume After Lockdown

Owing to the Coronavirus outburst in the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of the novel Coronavirus. Due to the lockdown, theatres are closed and many big banner films have been postponed from their original date as well.

There were several reports about the new rules and a revised protocol being planned in order to resume shooting for Bollywood movies post lockdown. Reportedly, Siddharth Roy Kapur led Producers Guild has drafted several safety measures for shooting on set post the lockdown.

As per the reports doing the rounds on the Internet, the new rules included temperature checks of the unit every morning, providing the result of their swab test before reporting on the set and it will also be mandatory to have a doctor and a nurse on the set. 

However, the Spokesperson of the Producers Guild of India has now offered a clarification in an open letter and stated:

A work in progress document prepared by the Guild of draft guidelines for resumption of shooting activities has recently been circulating widely in the media and industryThis is to clarify that this document is only an early internal draft prepared by the Guild in preparedness for the future resumption of shooting activities. Any final safety protocols and guidelines will be formalised only after comprehensive consultations with government officials, medical professionals and relevant industry bodies.

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The measures being planned were in order to prevent any harm and spread of the virus and run a smooth shooting of Bollywood projects. The reports about the new protocol stated that actors will have to do their makeup and styling at home and new rules included reporting on sets with only one staff member, producers will be requested to provide four masks per crew member for a 12-hour shoot and hiring of members above the age of 60 to be avoided for an initial period of three months.

Films like Boney Kapoor’s ‘Maidaan’ and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ starring Alia Bhatt were put on hold due to the lockdown. Federation of Western India Cine Employees president BN Tiwari was also quoted as stating that film shoots will begin post-July.

Members of Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) and FWICE had reportedly discussed the guidelines in a virtual meeting. However, now going by the clarification that has been offered by the Producers Guild, we will have to wait for an official statement to know more about the new protocol.

Stay tuned for more updates...