Coronavirus Cine bodies to halt all productions from Mar 19

    (Eds: Adding the statement of the Producers Guild of
India)
    Mumbai, Mar 15 (PTI) To contain the spread of novel
coronavirus, film bodies in India including Federation of
Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE), Indian Film &
Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) and Producers Guild
of India on Sunday decided to put shootings of films, TV shows
and web series on hold from March 19 to March 31.
    The meeting of the film bodies was also attended by
the representatives of Indian Motion Pictures Producers'
Association (IMPPA), Western India Film Producers' Association
(WIFPA) and Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC).
    "The health and safety of our colleagues is of
paramount importance to the Producers Guild of India. The
industry's united decision to suspend shooting between the
period March 19 to 31 is the need of the hour and we fully
support it," Kulmeet Makkar, Chief Executive Officer,
Producers Guild of India, said in a statement here.
    "In the coming days, we will discuss the details with
our members on the modalities of postponing our production
plans, keeping in mind the on-going threat of COVID-19. We
will continue to monitor the situation and take further
decisions accordingly," Makkar said.
    Various events, award functions, interviews, shooting
schedules have been called off in view of the novel
coronavirus outbreak.
    "Important bodies of film and entertainment industry
met today to deal with the issue of coronavirus. After a lot
of discussion, we came to this conclusion that from this
coming Thursday, all shootings will stop till March 31. After
that, we will take a call," Ashoke Pandit, president of IFTDA,
told reporters here.
    "We have given a gap till Thursday so that people get
ready accordingly, pack up and return from outstation. Our TV
industry is an important one and even they will get time to
organise things," he added.
    Pandit said the move comes at a time when there are
rising health concerns over novel coronavirus and the
associations collectively decided that the health of workers
is paramount.
    "We have also decided that all our sets, despite not
being used, will be sanitised, cleaned. Every production
house, with their members, will constantly take care of the
sets. The daily wages of the workers will be affected so we
have decided that they will be taken care of by all the
producers associations and federations. We will take care of
them," he added.
    JD Majethia, chairman, TV wing, IFTPC, said they are
in talks with broadcasters and all have been sensitive in
dealing with the pandemic.
    "Precautions were duly taken and more precautions will
be out in place till Wednesday. We have put up posters to
spread awareness, have provided masks and even given the
option of paid leaves for anyone who feels sick. All measures
are in place."
    "There will be losses but we all are standing
united... All the broadcasters are very sensitive. They care
about their workers as well. This is a pandemic so everyone is
concerned. It's their call what they want to air ahead but
they have time to finish their work till Wednesday," he added.
    B N Tiwari, president of FWICE, on Saturday told PTI
that they had asked for the shooting schedules of all the
films and television shows to be stopped across the country
for a brief period amid the outbreak.
    The pandemic has led to the cancellation of various
events, award functions, interviews and shooting schedules.
    On Saturday, actor Shahid Kapoor announced that the
team of his upcoming film "Jersey" has decided to suspend the
shoot of the film to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
    Yash Raj Films also delayed the release of Dibakar
Banerjee-directed "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar".
    Akshay Kumar-starrer "Sooryavanshi" has been pushed
indefinitely while Tillotama Shome's film "Sir" has been
postponed.
    The release of Hollywood movies "A Quiet Place 2",
"Mulan" and new James Bond film "No Time to Die" have also
been delayed.
    However, makers of "Angrezi Medium", starring Irrfan
Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Radhika Madan and Deepak Dobriyal,
went ahead with the scheduled release of the film on Friday.
    They announced to release the film on a later date in
Delhi, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, where cinema halls are
under lockdown till March 31.
    Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and
parts of Maharashtra have also called for a shutdown on
theatres till the month end, to contain the virus that has
been declared a pandemic by the WHO.
    The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country
rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting 32 such
cases.
    The virus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in
December, has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and
killed over 5,600. PTI JUR KKP
NSK NSK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)