Khichdi star Jamnadas Majethia who played Himanshu on the series recently spoke exclusively to Pinkvilla about Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray’s recent COVID restriction. For the uninitiated, the politician has ordered a Janta Curfew beginning tomorrow at 8 pm for the next 15 days. The restriction comes in light of the growing cases in Mumbai and pan India.
JD Majethia told us his thoughts on the new rule. He said, “As per the announcement made by CM Shri Uddhav Thackeray ji, no shoots will happen from 8 PM from tomorrow. We respect and stand by his decision. As few industries are allowed to work in a bio bubble situation, we will also work out a plan and like last year, we will approach the CMO again to get an exemption from the lockdown. Entertainment field people are like frontline workers for now as we help people entertained in such stressful times. So hopefully we will try to get an exemption to shoot like an essential service industry and we will be able to stand by the government in fighting this pandemic.”
The Film and TV industry will be making a request to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to allow them to continue with their work. Ashok Dubey, General Secretary of FWICE said: “Like he has allowed construction workers to work under the condition that they have to station at the site, we also plan to work in a bio bubble to avoid spreading of the infection. Our producers have made sure all the workers have done the RT-PCR test which is valid for 15 days. Most of the producers are also agreeing to work in that manner.''
Dubey is concerned about the members of the Allied Mazdoor and Studio Setting union members, he said: “We don't want to see the repeat of what happened last year as most of our members suffered a lot and had to leave Mumbai due to the lockdown. If our work continues that situation will not arise again.'' About 90 TV serials are being shot in Mumbai and a few small film shootings too were in progress.