Kolkata:
After a break of over two months, shooting of Bengali television serials will start from June 10 without child artistes and putting in place all measures to prevent coronavirus infection, state minister Arup Biswas said on Thursday.
Elderly actors, who are above 65, may join work after submitting a written undertaking that they are coming to the shooting floor willingly, he said.
“Shooting for serials will recommence from June 10 but no child actor will be allowed,” Biswas told reporters after a meeting with representatives of television channels, artistes, producers and technicians.
Biswas is the state’s PWD, youth affairs and sports minister, but he also looks after the entertainment industry.
It was also decided that intimate scenes will not be shot at present, one of the producers present at the meeting said.
The state government issued a notification on May 30, allowing shootings of serials, web series, and feature films from June 1 with the gathering of a maximum of 35 people.
However, filming of reality shows is still not permitted.
After the notification was issued, the stakeholders had said resumption of actual filming could take a little more time as producers have to chalk out logistics as per new guidelines.
The guidelines related to serial shoots chalked out during the past few days were ratified at the meeting on Thursday. The measures for resumption of film shoots and web series will be decided at another meeting on June 7.
“There has been a significant change in pre- and post-Covid 19 situations. We have to adapt to that change,” one of the serial producers and director Leena Gangopadhyay said.
About shooting of intimate scenes, she said such scenes are generally not shown in serials.
“If an intimate scene is necessary, there are many ways to shoot it. One doesn’t need to shoot it in an explicit way,” Gangopadhyay said.
All stakeholders of the city’s entertainment industry had decided to suspend shooting of feature films, TV serials and web series from March 18 to 30 in the wake of the novel coronavirus scare. Later, a nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25 and it was extended several times.
