Film shoots may not resume in Tollywood; no point shooting now, say filmmakers

Due to the lockdown and pandemic, film shootings have come to a standstill. Since March, all the films in Telugu film industry have seen no progress and release of many big films have been cancelled for now, as theatres remain unopened for some more time from now.

As per the sources, it might take another six months for the theatres to reopen. Which means, movie buffs need to wait till December to enjoy the theatre experience to watch a film.

Film fraternity members like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Rajamouli, Suresh Babu, Dil Raju and others have held meetings with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasheka Rao and Thalasani Srinivas Yadav, Telangana State Cinematography Minister. As per the output from the meeting, it was said that the biggies of the industry have decided to begin shooting with a minimal crew from June.

But the fact is that all the plans and initiatives planned by filmmakers have taken a U-turn in an unexpected way as Telangana sees a rise in the number of cases with each passing day.

Keeping the risk in mind, it has been decided that production work of films will not go on floors any soon is what producer Dil Raju says. Talking to a leading Telugu daily, the ace producer has said that to begin shooting would be nothing but putting everyone's lives in risk.

"All we need is 35 more days to finish the shooting of Vakeel Saab and post-production as well. If we open the theatres and release the film, the public will rush to the theatres to watch Pawan Kalyan. Reopening theatres will not happen any soon. So there is no point in shooting now," said the producer.

At the same time, director Venu Udugula, who is yet to finish the shoot of his upcoming film Virata Parvam also feels the same. "People will be touching each other on sets and maintaining social distance there is next to impossible. Wearing PPE kits and working is going to cost a lot to the producer. So I don't think shooting in these times is going to be advisable," he said.

So as of now, Rajamouli, who said he would like to do a test shoot of RRR with minimal crew, is also said to have dismissed his plans of taking the film on the floors. An official update from the makers and film fraternity regarding the same is awaited.

Production of many big films like RRR, Pushpa, #Prabhas20, Vakeel Saab, Acharya and other biggies are on hold as of now.