Odia TV and film industries brace for the 14-day total lockdown

The 14-day complete lockdown enforced by the state government in four Odisha districts from Thursday night has impacted life in the two major cities of the state — Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. And as a result, the film and television industries are at a loss about how to continue production work till the lockdown ends on July 31. Television serials, the shooting for which has been on since June, are going to be hit hard, as the next 14 days are filled with uncertainty.

“We are yet to decide on what to do. We have been shooting for more than a month now and our serial is being telecast. If we stop shooting, it will affect the process. I heard the channel people are in talks with the authorities to chalk out a plan so that we can continue shooting,” said Gouri Shankar Das, director of Kuaanri Bohu.
Filmmaker Akshay Kumar Parija, however, believes that the lockdown will not impact shooting of his serials. “The lockdown was a necessity in light of the current situation. We have several episodes in bank but there still may be problems. Let’s see how we can handle it,” he said.

Das added that they have been taking every possible precaution on the sets. “We are also following the government SOP. Let’s see what the channel people decide after discussing with the authorities,” he said.
Film director Jyote Das said that they were anyway planning to shoot from August. “So this lockdown may not affect us that much. But it will hamper pre-production work,” he said.
Actor Subhasisnath Sharma said he recently wrapped up the shooting for a television show. “Though the channel had given me a pass, I hear such passes won’t work during the lockdown. This will definitely affect shooting of serials since most of the shooting takes place in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack,” he said. Inspired By