Bollywood calls the new shooting guidelines ‘impractical’

After the Indian Film and Television Directors Association (IFTDA) wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking reconsideration of certain guidelines by the state to resume film shooting, another film body, Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA), has written to the chief minister calling the guidelines “impractical”.

Just as IFTDA had requested the government to reconsider the guideline stating that no person above 65 years of age shall be allowed in shooting areas, IMPPA has also sought a rethink on this particular issue.

“We have so many stars who are over 65. Bringing an elderly person on the set is risky, but we will take more precautions. We will shoot for only four hours with them instead of eight hours and complete their portions first. We will also keep them secluded,” said IMPPA Secretary Anil Nagrath, according to a report in Mid-Day.

Talking about the guideline that the crew must be put up in a hotel in order to reduce contamination risk, Nagrath told Mid-Day: “That is impossible to implement as most hotels have been taken up by the government as quarantine centres.”

IMPPA also had an issue with the suggestion that family members of actors could be cast in supporting roles, to restrict contact with outsiders. “Their suggestion of casting actors’ family members in the supporting roles is impractical. Not everyone belonging to a star’s family is an actor! They have put roadblocks by way of the regulations.”

The IMPPA letter has not only urged the government to reconsider these guidelines, but also reportedly shared a copy of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the Karnataka government, which they feel is a little more “flexible”.