FWICE's Ashok Dubey opens up about shoot resumption, claims supervisors must be deployed

Ashok Dubey, General Secretary of the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees, spoke to a leading entertainment portal about the new Government Resolution issued by Maharashtra State Government with guidelines for the resumption of the media and entertainment industry after the coronavirus imposed lockdown in the country. He claimed that even though the rules and regulations have been laid down by the government along with a green signal to start work, the industry would need a supervisor like authoritative figure to monitor the shoots and ensure that the rules are being followed.

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Dubey further spoke about the protocols that have been mentioned in the guidelines issued by the state government and shared that it is mandatory for everyone on the sets to wear masks and that proper sanitisation of the entire sets is ensured. He also revealed that producers have been asked to keep the number of people on the set to about just 30 per cent of the total estimated number.

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The FWICE General Secretary revealed further that he does not think that big stars would be willing to start filming with the risk of the infection still at large in the city. However, they would be willing to shoot sequences where a large crowd is not required. He also said that daily soap actors and the daily wagers who have been out of work since the lockdown began are the ones likely to resume as soon as possible.

"Apart from that, if any person tests positive on the set then according to the Government policy, the shooting has to be halted and the set will be shut down for three days. After three days, there will be a sanitization process that will take place on the set and then they can resume the shoot again. So it is going to be quite expensive for the producers if proper guidelines are not followed."

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He concluded by revealing that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi will be the first one to start shoot as their set is already erected at the location. An untitled Boney Kapoor film is also being shot at Madh Island which is likely to resume shooting along with the Alia Bhatt starrer.

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