MUMBAI: The Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) has sent a letter to the Maharashtra government seeking the removal of certain clauses in the guidelines for resuming shooting of films, OTT shows, and television serials as they are difficult to be adhered to. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray recently permitted the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) to resume shooting only if these guidelines and SOPs are followed strictly.

IFTDA president Ashoke Pandit wrote, “We are glad to note that each and every point that we had presented and discussed in the above meeting has been considered and implemented in the GR released by the government. All the clauses that are mentioned in the GR are in line with the requirements raised by the stakeholders of the Industry. However, we would like to request you to please revisit two clauses mentioned in the GR.”

One major concern is that any person above 65 years of age will not be allowed to work on the set. This category includes prominent actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Annu Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dharmendra, Shakti Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Pankaj Kapur, Jackie Shroff, Danny Denzongpa, Dalip Tahil, Tinnu Anand, Rakesh Bedi, Kabir Bedi and others. It also has legendary directors, filmmakers and writers like Anil Sharma, David Dhawan, Subhash Ghai, Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam and Prakash Jha.

According to Pandit, this clause is impractical since it would restrict some of the great luminaries of the industry.

Another major concern highlighted by Pandit is the availability of doctors and nurses stationed at each shooting premises.

The letter notes that Maharashtra is already facing issues due to non-availability of the doctors and nurses to cope with the increased number of patients from the Covid2019 pandemic and therefore it is not practical to have a doctor and nurse to be stationed at each shooting premise.

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