It’s been more than 4 months since Tollywood, like all other film industries across the country, was shut down due to the lockdown amid COVID-19 outbreak. Even now, there is no hint of the film industry coming back to normalcy and resume shootings.
The general mood in the industry at present is that neither the heroes nor the producers are willing to take the risk and resume shootings. Even though they kick-start shootings, the production formalities will have to come to a sudden halt and the entire unit must go into self isolation for 20 days, if one of the unit members tests positive for the virus.
Another reason is the high interest rates. The financiers had already agreed to waive off the interest for the first three months of the lockdown. But once the shootings resume, producers will have to shell out heavy interest rates until their films hit screens.
With no certainty regarding the reopening of cinema theaters, it only makes sense for the producers to follow the wait and watch policy rather than starting the shoots hastily and ending up paying heavy interest if the shootings are stalled abruptly or releases delayed.
In this scenario, actors and filmmakers are waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine to arrive and only then the industry may again function like in the good old days. And it’s no exaggeration to say that they will have to wait at least until the year end to restart the work.