As the second wave of coronavirus is abating and mortality rate of patients suffering from COVID-19 has decreased, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has announced that the state will start a gradual unlock from June 7. According to this plan, cities and districts will fall under a level based on their coronavirus cases and bed occupancy rate.
Since Mumbai falls under level 3 with the positivity rate of 5.56% and bed occupancy at 32.51 %, shooting can resume next week with proper protocols. However, movie halls and malls shall remain closed. The shoots will happen in a bubble and crowd scenes will not be allowed to be shot. Furthermore, lockdown will be in place on weekdays past 5 pm and none at all during weekends. For cities that fall under level 1, public spaces can go back to normal occupancy and functioning.
A daily quoted an industry insider who said, “This is great news for the industry. A lot of shootings have been pending for a long time. Finally, the producers of these movies can heave a sigh of relief. Even the television industry will be happy. For a long time, a lot of serials have been shot in resorts in Gujarat and Daman. It was amusing to see that suddenly, so many daily soaps showed all major characters moving to a resort. But what choice did they have? Now they can finally head back to the city.”
Several films which had put a halt on their shooting schedules will be looking forward to resuming their shoots.
(Source: TOI)