Mihir Bhanage (BOMBAY TIMES; March 24, 2020)

It’s been a couple of days since Marathi film and theatre actor Amey Wagh returned from the USA and the actor is in home quarantine for 14 days as directed by authorities. Amey was part of the team of the play, Amar Photo Studio, which had gone for a US and Canada tour on March 5. What was supposed to be a 40-day and 14-show tour, was cut down after three shows, owing to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. The team is now back in India. However, their return wasn’t free of issues.

Amey shares, “We returned in three groups. The first group reached without any issues, but the second group faced a lot of trouble because flights were getting cancelled. My domestic flight in the US got cancelled as did the initial flight that I was supposed to take. After much coordination, I landed in Mumbai on Thursday night.” In fact, the second group, which flew out, including actress Parna Pethe, had a taxing travel of almost 40 hours, thanks to cancelled and rescheduled flights.

Ask Amey about his experience at the airport on return and he replies, “The entire process of immigration, health check-up, etc., was very smooth. I had made up my mind to spend at least 4-5 hours at the airport under these circumstances, but I was out in an hour’s time!” The actor was ‘stamped’ for home quarantine at the Mumbai airport and will be spending two weeks at home. “I don’t have any symptoms, but the next 14 days are crucial. So, I will be staying at home and doing things that I have missed out on in the last few months,” he says.

About his stay in the US, Amey says he had a very different and unforgettable experience this time. “We were staying at my relative’s place in San Jose. After the local authorities announced closure of all public gatherings, people stayed indoors, so did we. We would step out only for grocery shopping. But after the outbreak, people panicked and, as we know, they were stocking up on supplies. So, when we went to the supermarket there, there was no toilet paper in stock, neither was there a single loaf of bread available,” he shares.

Amey also adds that while the tour being cut short was disappointing, it was necessary. “It’s something no one predicted would happen. In a crisis like this, authorities need to take appropriate measures to prevent further spread and we should do our best to support them,” he says.

While they are away from work for a while now, Amey shares that he and Nipun Dharmadhikari might do short episodes of their popular web show from home in the next few days. The actor is also utilising his time doing household chores. In a video he posted on Saturday, Amey was seen cutting onions for breakfast.

Besides Amey, the other team members who returned from the US, including Parna Pethe, Nipun and Siddhesh Purkar, have also been home-quarantined.