Coronavirus: shooting of Bengali films, serials suspended till March 30

Artistes, technicians and other stakeholders of the city's entertainment industry on Tuesday resolved to suspend shooting of feature films, TV serials and web series between March 18 and 30 in wake of the novel coronavirus scare.

Shashwat Mishra
Published on: 18 March 2020 10:23 AM GMT
Coronavirus: shooting of Bengali films, serials suspended till March 30
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Coronavirus: shooting of Bengali films, serials suspended till March 30

Kolkata: Artistes, technicians and other stakeholders of the city's entertainment industry on Tuesday resolved to suspend shooting of feature films, TV serials and web series between March 18 and 30 in wake of the novel coronavirus scare.

This is a unanimous decision taken in the interest of all concerned, West Bengal minister Swarup Biswas said after attending a meeting of the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India, West Bengal Motion Picture Artists' Forum, and heads of different Bengali channels.

"All types of shooting will be stopped from March 18 to March 30," said Biswas who is the PWD, youth affairs and sports minister.

Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India President Swarup Biswas said the decision was taken in the interest of artists, technical crew members and their families.

Bengali film director and producer of tele soaps, Raj Chakraborty, said channels will decide about the date of telecast of serials which will be affected by the decision.

After March 30, the industry will take a call on the issue based on the directive of the state government and how the coronavirus situation will unfold at that juncture.

To a question, Artists' Forum General Secretary Arindam Ganguly said overseas shooting of Bengali films, which are currently under progress, would be halted from Wednesday and those abroad would return to the country.

"We will decide about the future dates (of shootings) after the corona crisis gets over," Ganguly said.

Shooting for Mainak Bhowmik's film 'Chini', Nandita Roy-Shiboprosad Mukhopadhyay's 'Haami two', Bratya Basu's 'Dictionary', Dhurba Banerjee's 'Golondaj', Srijit Mukherjee's third 'Kakababu' film and telly serials currently being aired will now be delayed, industry sources said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asked cinema theatres to remain shut till March 31 as a precautionary measure against the novel coronavirus.

Shashwat Mishra

Shashwat Mishra

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