new article - Harsh working schedule

Fans had to deal with a huge shock early this week as, Maan and Geet, played by Gurmeet Choudhary and Dhrasti Dhami respectively on Geet-Hui Sabse Parayi fell ill. Gurmeet has been at the receiving end for quite some time now, as it was first a dislocated shoulder, then a malarial attack and then an eye infection recently, throughout which he continued to shoot. As most scenes required him, and the story had been focusing on Maan and Geet's budding romance the makers at times had to make do with shooting close ups of the actor. However, the worst possible storm hit the 4Lions-Endemol produced show when Gurmeet had to suddenly be shifted to the hospital from his make-up room. Rumors and speculations have been doing rounds ever since that it could be chicken pox or dengue fever. Following him, a day later his co-star Dhrasti Dhami, also seems to have fallen ill.

It was earlier reported that the director of the show Nissar Parvez also had taken to bed since he had caught malaria soon after Gurmeet had recovered.

Now the cause for concern here is that is it the long and strenuous working hours that do not allow actors to rest or recuperate? Most shows do not have an episode bank, hence forcing makers to shoot on the day of the telecast or a day before it. This leaves the entire story track in the present as well as chaos for the future.

This is not uncommon in the industry. Other actors have also fallen ill as well, and have continued shooting despite deteriorating health conditions. Once an actor is fully engaged in a show, he barely finds time for anything else as more than 20 hours go into the show. Sometimes actors who try to balance between reality and dailies have to pay a heavy price for it, as they fall ill. This happened to Sushant Rajput on the sets of Zara Nachke Dikha, as he was over worked from his daily Pavitra Rishta.

But why is it that our actors face so much stress? Why can't they be given time to rest?

The answer is complicated. Most actors have a strong following and their fans refuse to watch episodes when their favorites are not present. This results in a dip in the TRPS's forcing the producers as well as actors to be on their toes all the time.

But is there no other way out? Why can't we follow the Western format of seasonal shows where a definite set of episodes are telecast, and then the actors get their well deserved break as well for a good three to four months in a year. In fact many reality shows like Indian Idol, Big Boss, Jhalak Dikhla Ja have adopted this pattern but, we know these shows are structured in a manner that they have a start to finish schedule. Soaps on the other hand have a long standing story. Once a show registers good numbers the makers don't want to end it and the channel also finds it hard to look for quick replacements which may not ensure the same success. Also, in India serials run year long as they are the bread and butter for a lot of people like the technical team, the creative team, and the spot boys.

Moreover, fans do express their concern, but they want their episodes as well. Hence it's like walking on a tight rope. From our side, we wish all those actors who have taken ill due to harsh shooting schedules a speedy recovery, but still this situation causes us to ask some questions:

Do you think actors should also have fixed working hours like other jobs? Would the American Format of seasons work in India?
• What were to happen to a story line when both the lead actors fall sick?