The movie industry has been impacted on a large scale due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus forced the central government to enforce a strict lockdown. Even before the lockdown was imposed, movie theaters and shopping malls were ordered to shut down which meant that movies could not be released and with the lockdown, even shooting schedules have been completely halted overnight. This meant that the livelihood of many daily wage workers in the industry is affected as there were no more jobs.
As the lockdown slowly progressed into its fourth part, lockdown restrictions have been considerably eased and life is slowly returning to normal in the country. However, theaters and malls continue to be closed and movie schedules halted. Tollywood celebrities Chiranjeevi, SS Rajamouli, Nagarjuna and many others met the Minister of Cinematography Talasani Srinivas Yadav to discuss the possibility of resuming movie shootings.
The delegation of the representatives of Tollywood can breathe a sigh of relief now as CM KCR gave the nod to resume shootings from June. Speaking on the issue KCR said, “A lot of people solely depend on the film industry to eke out their living. It’s necessary to resume film shootings, reopen theatres and other production works in a limited way by adhering to lockdown guidelines and other Covid-19 norms. While the post-production activities, which happen indoors, can be resumed with immediate effect, the resumption of film shootings will be allowed in June. The reopening of theatres is still a way off and we will make a decision accordingly soon after assessing the situation (sic.)”
Therefore, we might see more movies releasing on the OTT platforms in the near future and it may become the norm in the future where we can see filmmakers having the choice of releasing their movies in theaters or on OTTs.
Watch Telugu Online Here
