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Business News/ News / India/  New curbs in Maharashtra to disrupt film, TV productions
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New curbs in Maharashtra to disrupt film, TV productions

Just like last year, daily wage workers employed on TV sets have begun to go back to their native places

Maharashtra has imposed Section 144 for 15 days, prohibiting shoots for movies, web shows and television serials. (Mint)Premium
Maharashtra has imposed Section 144 for 15 days, prohibiting shoots for movies, web shows and television serials. (Mint)

Filmmakers, television broadcasters and producers are bracing themselves for tough times with Maharashtra imposing Section 144 for 15 days in light of the rising number of covid cases and prohibiting shoots for movies, web shows and serials.

The content crunch will begin to show soon enough, according to media experts, especially for daily soaps. Shooting timelines for Hindi and Marathi language content have already been disrupted over the past few weeks when night curfews and lockdowns over weekends were in place.

The move has brought the Indian entertainment industry, which has already borne massive losses for the past one year, to a grinding halt. The television industry had declined by 13% over 2020, while filmed entertainment fell by 62%, according to a recent Ficci EY report.

“Not shooting for the next 15 days is going to have a huge impact as most TV producers only have a bank of four to five episodes. It was already challenging for us to not be able to shoot over weekends and there is a lot of fear on whether and how we will be able to overcome these business losses," said producer J.D. Majethia of Hats Off Productions and chairman of the Indian Film and TV Producers Council, referring to monthly salaries and studio rents, which are fixed expenses.

“The weekly non-fiction shows that survive on audience voting will barely have an episode or two ready. There is no option for them," he said.

Repeat airings of older content will begin soon and general entertainment channels will lose viewership to the ongoing Indian Premier League season, he said.

Just like last year, daily wage workers employed on TV sets, many of whom are migrants, have begun to go back to their native places, not knowing how long the lockdown will last this time, he added.

The scene is just as dismal for film producers who had been struggling with shortened schedules, cost escalations due to safety protocols and actors testing positive.

“The situation in Maharashtra is alarming and nobody wants to take a risk. People have pretty much-delayed schedules unless shoots are completely necessary at the moment," said film producer Anand Pandit who had shot portions of his latest Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Thank God in February and has been waiting for things to settle down.

Most producers do not want to take full crews out of Mumbai to shoot elsewhere as any member could be asymptomatic and there is always a possibility of a lockdown being imposed in any part of the country and the entire team getting stuck there with travel and accommodation expenses to be taken care of, he added.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lata Jha
"Lata writes about the media and entertainment industry for Mint, focusing on everything from traditional film and TV to newer areas like video and audio streaming services. She loves movies and spends a lot of her free time watching them, which makes her job both fun and a bit of a challenge. Lata tries to find and write about things in the entertainment world that most people don't notice, even though a lot of people in her country are really into movies and entertainment news often just talks about the glamorous side of things. "
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Published: 14 Apr 2021, 12:32 PM IST
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