With a number of actors and makers testing positive for coronavirus, industry experts weigh in on whether another shut down is a possibility
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 20, 2021)

The film industry has braved it all in the past one year with theatres being shut and all shoots being stalled. The latter half of 2020 saw work resuming in bits and pieces with actors back on sets. However, of late, a sudden spurt in cases of Coronavirus has put Bollywood in a tight spot again.

Ranbir Kapoor, Tara Sutaria (who has tested negative now), Satish Kaushik, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Manoj Bajpayee, have tested positive for Covid-19, and this has led to talks about a potential shut down.

CRUCIAL TIMES FOR THEATRES
Industry people at large deny any such happening. “Vaccinations have begun, I hope cases will come down. People are going all out to release their films, too. I guess we will have to wait and watch how that unfolds,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

Madhur Bhandarkar who has wrapped up the shoot of his next, India Lockdown says, “I don’t think we will go into a shut down until the state governments say it. But it may lower the speed of shooting.”

SHUT DOWN NOT FEASIBLE
Echoing the same sentiment as Bhandarkar is Hansal Mehta, who recently announced the second season of his show Scam. “I don’t think the industry will shut down again. What the need of the hour is, is to be cautious and careful. We had reached a point where we were careless. I don’t think anybody can afford a shut down anymore,” he says.

Producer Anand Pandit, who has two projects in the pipeline Chehre and The Big Bull, feels that when a project shuts down, several workers suffer. “Coronavirus is becoming part of our lives, everybody says ’14-15 din mein vaapis aa jaaunga’. They are treating it like cold. Kab tak band rakhenge? If one shoots stops, 500 workers don’t get their daily bread,” he reasons. Pandit also reveals that artistes are no longer taking Covid-19 into account. “I am meeting many stars and directors, and nobody talks about Covid-19, except the rising number of cases,” he says.

Trade expert Atul Mohan tells us that various worker associations have sent out notices, advising artistes to not take things lightly. “Associations have requested them to follow guidelines. As the days were progressing, protocols on set were taken off. The ‘chalta hai’ attitude had come in,” he says.