The uncertainty over film and television shooting in Kolkata’s Tollywood industry finally came to an end on Wednesday as members of the artists’ forum and producers guild jointly decided to resume operations adhering to the necessary COVID-19 guidelines.
The deadlock was resolved after a long meeting with West Bengal minister Arup Biswas who intervened and held a series of meetings with industry people.
The shooting for both film and television serials is likely to start from Thursday, following all the social-distancing guidelines, sources said.
Initially, the representatives from the artists’ forum which has nearly 3,000 members denied to kick-start the shooting process over the issue of Rs 2.5 million COVID-19 medical insurance for every artist to be effective from the first day of shooting.
According to sources, the members of the artists’ forum had raised certain issues to ensure health protocols and safety of every artist as top priorities while shooting for channels.
But the channel owners and tele-producers failed to give assurance about giving signed documents of the medical insurance premium to artists from the first day of shooting. ♦
