Confusion ensues at Film City as several stars, junior artistes turned away from gates after Collector's Office sends notice to shut down shooting site by late Tuesday due to Coronavirus outbreak
Mohar Basu, Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; March 18, 2020)

Tuesday started on a chaotic note at Film City in Goregaon when the security team shut its gates early in the morning, taking several stars and unit members by surprise. mid-day has learnt that the shutdown came on the heels of the notice issued by Aaditya Thackeray, cabinet minister of tourism and environment, which stated that all shoots at the Goregaon venue must be suspended at the earliest.

A source reveals that the first batch of junior artistes, who arrived at the scene in the morning, had a heated exchange of words with the security team when they were barred from entering the premises. "The guards were adamant about not letting them in. Sanjay Dutt, who had been shooting for one of his films in the premises over the past few days, too had to return from the main gate. The shoot of Alia Bhatt's Gangubai Kathiawadi and The Kapil Sharma Show was called off," adds the source.

When mid-day called the security team manning the entrance, in the evening, the guard on duty feigned lack of knowledge. While Birendra Nath Tiwari, president, Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), said he had no knowledge of the fracas, he confirmed that the studio has been shut down well ahead of the March 19 deadline. "All other studios in the city are functioning, but Film City has been shut after notification came from the Collector's Office on Monday night. They decided to shut the studio before the deadline after noticing the rise in numbers of cases in Maharashtra. The police were monitoring the entry and exit points of the studio."

J D Majethia, TV-Web chairman, Indian Film & TV Producers' Council, added, "After informing me of the death in Mumbai this morning, Aaditya Thackeray asked me not to wait till Thursday to suspend the shoots. Most shoots were stopped in the afternoon. All producers, cast and crew have been informed that no shoots will take place until further notice. If things get better by March 31 and we resume shoot, it will take us five to six days [since then] to air fresh content."