The State government’s decision to allow film shootings to resume has been welcomed by the Tamil film industry. While shooting for television projects commenced last month, the Film Employees’ Federation of India (FEFSI) as well as other members of the industry had been urging the government to ease the norms and allow them to begin shooting.
“Given the restrictions, production can definitely commence on small and medium budget films. Nearly 80% of the workers can now get back to the sets as well,” said G. Dhananjayan, producer.
Mr. Dhananjayan said, however, it would take them at least a week to begin filming in full swing.
“There are several norms that need to be followed and we will discuss as well as plan how to carry out work in a safe manner,” he added.
Industry bodies such as FEFSI are now expected to brief members of the guidelines in place and their implementation.
Director Bharathiraaja, president, Tamil Film Active Producers Council, while thanking the government, has also appealed to it to consider reopening theatres.
Campaign on social media
With hashtags #Supportmovietheatres and #SaveCinema, several members of the film industry and theatre owners started a campaign on social media, urging the Central government to announce the reopening of theatres.
“The multiplex association of India has appealed to the Central government to allow theatres to reopen and function, and we are supporting them. Theatres across the world are opening and we want the same to happen here as well,” said Tiruppur Subramaniam, president, Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association.
‘Ready to follow norms’
“We are ready to follow any guidelines given to us. At present, theatres in other parts of the world have a system in place to check the temperature of the movie-goers, ensure that they are not seated close to each other and schedule shows with at least a one-hour gap to clean and sanitise the theatres,” he said. Producers are keen for theatres to open so that they can start releasing films. With no releases since March, there has been a backlog and only a few projects have gone the OTT route so far.