In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in March, the film and television industry had suspended all administrative, post-production, and promotional work for the movies to avoid the spread of the deadly virus. Following this, the nation-wide lockdown led to the shutting down of all sectors, leaving all daily wage workers out of an income.
After several extensions, the lockdown that was to end on May 3 was further deferred by two weeks owing to the increase in COVID-19 positive patients. While the film industry managed to support the cine daily wagers by handing over about Rs. 4000 worth of groceries until Sunday, for about 50 days, they are struggling to rack up funds now.
As a result, several Tamil film producers including Bharathiraja, T Siva, Kalaipuli S Thanu, TG Thyagarajan, KE Gnanavelraja, Chithra Lakshmanan, S Kathiresan, Vishnu Vishal, YNOT S Sashikanth, G Dhananjayan, SR Prabhu, Rajasekar Pandian, JSK Sathish Kumar, CV Kumar, Suresh Kamatchi, Manobala, Subbu Panchu, and Radha Ravi have appealed to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edapadi K Palaniswami, to pass an order allowing the resumption of post-production activities for the film industry and minimal-crew shooting for the television industry. They mentioned that the opening up of the film industry, just like the other business industries, would help the daily wagers. Prior to this, the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) along with the Federation of Small Screen Technicians had also penned a letter regarding the same.
#FEFSI is requesting State government to give permission to start post production works like dubbing & re-recording in movies & also for TV serial Shooting with minimal members !#filmindustry #televisionindustry 🎬@CMOTamilNadu @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/rsoW34FskY
— Actor Surjith Ansary 🌟 (@AnsarySurjith) May 3, 2020
Together, the associations have requested permission to resume activities like editing, dubbing, VFX (Visual Effects), CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), DI (Digital Intermediary), BGM Score (Background Music Score), Sound Effects, Foley and Mixing that involve only a small group of people working together. They have also promised to undertake all the required safety measures and sanitize the studios/sets while working.
The associations agreed that it would not be advisable to commence with film shooting since Chennai and several other cities have been marked Red because of the coronavirus. They also stated that about Rs. 500 crores of investment has been immobilised due to the lockdown which has, in turn, affected the livelihood of several producers.
The letter also mentioned that the Government of Kerala has permitted the resumption of post-productional activities with certain conditions, thereby allowing the Mollywood industry to work on their films.
தமிழ் திரைப்பட தயாரிப்பாளர்கள், சின்னத்திரை மற்றும் FEFSI சார்பில், மாண்புமிகு அமைச்சர் கடம்பூர் ராஜூ அவர்களை சந்தித்து தயாரிப்பாளர்கள்
T. சிவா, மனோபாலா, G. தனஞ்ஜெயன் மற்றும் M. திருமலை ஆகியோர் போஸ்ட்-புரடொக்ஷன் பணிகள் (டப்பிங், எடிட்டிங், VFX/CGI, DI, Re-recording, pic.twitter.com/kPKNwPZlDP— FullOnCinema (@FullOnCinema) May 4, 2020
Meanwhile, several fan clubs of stars like Vijay and Suriya, Rajinikanth‘s ‘Rajini Makkal Mandram’, and Kamal Haasan‘s ‘Makkal Needhi Maiam’ have been constantly helping the people in crisis by providing rice, vegetables, and essentials.
3.05.2020
#MNMSoldiersOnfeild#MNMduringcorona
■ தலைவர் நம்மவர் ஆனைக்கினங்க,
ஒட்டுமொத்த இளைஞர்களின் எழுச்சி நாயகன் , மய்யத்தின் போர் வாள்,அண்ணன் *திரு. சிணேகன்* அவர்களின் அறிவுறுத்தலின்படி,
மாநில செயலாளர்
செய்தி மற்றும் ஊடகம்
பாசமிகு அண்ணன் *திரு.முரளி அப்பாஸ்* pic.twitter.com/1G4oK6sCDq— MNM 🔦 திருவள்ளூர் மாவட்டம் (@MNMTiruvallurDt) May 4, 2020
