Yogendra Vikram Singh was recently reintroduced in the TV show Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin and the actor is glad to be back. “I have come back to the show after eight months. I was away for so long, but I was still getting queries from inquisitive fans about my return. This medium made me a household name after doing just a few episodes,” he shares.

Yogendra started his career with the movie NH10. He then did films like Trapped and Mirza Juuliet. Talking about how he got into television, he says, “Mirza Juuliet was directed by Rajesh Ram Singh. That’s where I met him. He offered me the role in Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin; he is one of the producers of this show. Before coming on board for Ghum Hai... I was in Dubai doing a Broadway show as a lead actor for two years. After a while, I got bored, resigned from there and returned to Bollywood and did films like Saand Ki Aankh and Gunjan Saxena.”

Born in Faizabad in UP, Yogendra completed his B.Sc from Lucknow University. It was during his college days that he started doing theatre. “One of my friends had introduced me to theatre and I immediately developed a liking for the medium. I wanted to join the National School of Drama (NSD) or the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). I remember how hard I prepared for the entrance of NSD, but I couldn’t clear it. I eventually got through FTII Pune,” he says. 

Still struggling to get back on its feet after a year of uncertainty, the showbiz industry in Maharashtra has been brought to a standstill again. Owing to the steep rise in Coronavirus cases, the state government announced that all shoots will be stopped for 15 days. Among the films being shot in the state were Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathan, Salman Khan’s Tiger 3, Amitabh Bachchan’s Goodbye. Also, currently, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has a few days of shooting left for Gangubai Kathiawadi. The other pending shoots include a song for Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra, Rahul Dholakia’s Mumbai schedule of Shabaash Mithu, Amit Sharma’s Maidaan, Ahmed Khan’s Heropanti 2 and Om Raut’s Adipurush, among others.

Apart from films, TV shows are also in a tizzy after the announcement. Many TV producers had already started doing the groundwork in the last couple of weeks after cases were on a rise in Mumbai. The places that have emerged as preferred destinations to shoot are Umbergaon, Goa and Hyderabad. Rajesh Ram Singh, producer of Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin and Chhoti Saradarni, says, “Hyderabad has Ramoji Film City and the probability of shoots being stalled is less.” He has also shortlisted Goa for the shoot. “We have seen a bungalow there for indoor shoots. Now we have to take a final call in a day or two. Our teams are geared up to shoot at a new location,” he shares.

Producer Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s studio in Umbergaon is also a possible temporary option for some producers, who have done a recce of the location recently. Siddharth shares, “I am already shooting my show, RadhaKrishn, here, and this is a complete green zone with all the facilities. The place is only a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Mumbai.”

Meanwhile, some producers do not want to shift locations and feel that’s not a solution given the uncertainty of the pandemic. Producer Nitin Vaidya, who has shows like Punyashlok Ahilya Bai and Rudrakaal, says he will go as per the government’s order and stop shooting. “We will air the bank of episodes we have and then the re-runs will be aired. We can’t be changing locations because the Coronavirus scare is everywhere,” he says.