Entertenment News | Bengal TV Actors Getting Used to Post-COVID 'new Normal' on Sets

Kolkata, Jun 27 (PTI) Television actors in West Bengal are slowly getting used to the 'new normal' on the sets, including make-up by PPE-clad artists, the use of mannequins for scenes requiring proximity between characters and the tweaking of storylines to suit the new post-COVID reality.

The floors had opened for shooting on June 11 after remaining closed for over 80 days due to the pandemic.

Also Read | Chakra Trailer: Vishal Wages a War Against a Cyber Criminal In His Next Action Movie (Watch Video).

"New techniques are being adapted for master shots to give an illusion of the presence of more artistes on a set and mannequins are being used for scenes requiring proximity between actors.

"It is a challenge but artistes, technicians and other members of the crew are delivering while following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)," Producer Saibal Banerjee told PTI.

Also Read | Vidya Balan's Shakuntala Devi: The Human Computer To Stream On Amazon Prime Video From July 15 (View Tweet).

There are specific time limits within which shooting of respective serials are wrapped up every day, he said.

"We have received tweaked storylines keeping in mind the social distancing norms but there has been no compromise on the quality and people are watching the serials like before," popular small-screen actor Shruti Das from mega serial 'Trinoyoni' said.

Solanki Roy of 'Prothoma Kadombini' serial said, "Shooting takes place between 6 am and 8 pm. With PPE-clad make-up artists and sanitisation of rooms every hour, we are getting used to the new normal."

Many artistes are now bringing home-cooked food as opposed to the earlier habit of ordering from favourite restaurants, she said.

Departing from the earlier trend of shooting till midnight and recommencing it next morning, shooting nowadays is taking place only within a scheduled time, an industry source said.

Actors in serials like 'Ke apon ke por' and 'Srimoyee' wear masks onscreen and the storylines have references to the COVID-19 outbreak, showcasing the present situation.

Actor and filmmaker Parambrata Chatterjee hoped that the shooting of films and web series will also recommence soon.

He said the resumption of the shooting of serials has been a success, "at least so far".

"I know many people had reservations (over the resumption of the shooting of serials). All of us were apprehensive, to begin with, but I think getting back to work was necessary for a lot of people.

"There were a lot of deliberations over the SOP and other verticals. Managing the insurance for artistes and technicians was not an easy task, especially for a so-called regional industry like ours. But, so far so good," he said.

Cine Technicians and Workers' Association president Swarup Biswas said the shooting of serials is going well for the past 15 days and the shows are garnering more Television Rating Point (TRP) as the audience "is appreciating the effort required behind making of each episode".

"Bengal has been a frontrunner in the resumption of the shooting of serials," Mahendra Soni, director of a leading production house, said.

He said every artiste and technician engaged in the shooting have already been provided with an insurance cover.

The West Bengal government had on June 1 announced that shooting of movies, serials and web series can resume indoors with a maximum of 35 people on a set.

While most of the filmmakers are waiting for further easing of restrictions, the shooting of popular television serials began on June 11.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)