The entertainment industry is almost back on its feet after being brought down to its knees by the Coronavirus pandemic. Shoots have resumed and actors are stepping out to work. And while she admits that it was initially a tough call to go back to work, Dia Mirza says once on set, she was beyond happy.

“When I decided that I was going to get back to work, I obviously made sure that there are protocols in place to ensure highest level of safety. But after a while, you have to let go and just focus on the job. You can’t be on the set and be paranoid about the fact that you might contract [the virus]. I go in there and I can’t tell you the joy it has given me to go back to sets. I just feel like it’s a new life. But you do what you have to do,” she says.

Mirza has begun shooting for a series, and she says even with all the precautions in place, there is a fear in everyone’s mind and that is fine.

“I see how the production crew is working hard to ensure highest level of safety on sets. But even then, when you step out, you say a quiet prayer and you hope that everybody else is also doing their best to ensure everyone’s safety,” the actor-producer shares.

But what she finds baffling is how some people are still roaming around without masks and crowding places. “I find it very disturbing. It’s not just vendors and people in the market who are not wearing masks, but it is very disturbing that who you perceive as educated are also not doing it. It is alarming; I just wish and pray that people will be a bit more responsible. To think of it, everyone across the board has campaigned and advocated for the last seven months the importance of wearing a mask and maintaining physical distancing. And in spite of that, when you see people not wearing mask, it makes you wonder what is wrong with us. What will it take for people to get this simple thing right?” she asks.