One year of lockdown: Television actors share their stories of shooting in the 'new normal'

Along with the country the television and Bollywood industry too took a pause during the lockdown which was imposed on March 22 2020 Exactly a year on things have partially changed Well though the actors are back on sets the COVID19 situation continues to be worrisome With numbers of cases shooting up at an alarming rate the risk of a second wave in India has risen materially Several states have already started imposing restrictions including full lockdown and night curfew to contain the spread of the virusAmid possibilities of a second complete lockdown in the country actors recall memories of the postlockdown days and their new normal shooting experiences Television actors share their storiesSayantani Ghosh aka Daljeet Bagga from Tera Yaar Hoon MainSayantani GhoshThe nationwide lockdown completes a year but our fight with COVID19 has not yet ended and the second wave has hit us hard giving us a recall alarm to not take things for granted We take proper precautions on the set and follow all the protocols but the truth of the matter is that regardless of how much precautions you take there is always an element of chance and constant fear and concern in our heads The experience is good because you are working and moving ahead in life however the uncertainty does bother you of what will happen but this is the new normal and we have to live with it The entire process is physically very exerting and mentally very exhausting This is beyond any doubt a hardship that the human race is challenged with but we have to work around it Back home I follow a proper routine of doing my Betadine gargle taking my Vitamin C and Zinc supplements along with adequate sanitisation of the thingsDev Joshi from Baalveer ReturnsDev JoshiIt has been a year since the lockdown and I somehow feel that I miss it now as I spent very memorable time of two and half months with my family in Ahmedabad But yes for the development and economy of the nation as well as for the Television industry we are back and are working hard to keep entertained all of the Baalveer Returns fans My experience after the pandemic has been quite different from before as its restrictive in some manners but for the safety of everyone we are abiding by the rules till the time we are totally revived of COVID As an actor the most challenging part is to keep wearing a mask throughout as the linings of the mask on our face ruins the makeup and we have to keep retouching it before the shot which consumes a lot of time but we try to maintain social distancing and follow all the rules to the extent we can There is no particular incident that I can share but the COVID inspectors are always on the sets to ensure everyones safety by wearing masks and using sanitisers from time to time On a regular basis after returning from the sets I basically freshen up and sanitize my shoes wash my clothes and masks I personally take all the safety measures as we are unaware of people whom we have been in touch travelling from sets to our homeParitosh Tripathi recalls shooting for Gangs of FilmistanParitosh TripathiDuring the pandemic I started shooting for my comedy show Gangs of Filmistan The shooting was done with all precautions and yes within the decided time We were not allowed to shoot at night and there used to be a limited number of people on the set It was a very unusual sight for me because there were no long hour shoots anymore no night shoot fewer crew members It was a lifetime experience for meSharing an incident that took place during the shooting period Tripathi said I remember as social distancing was the major measures that we had to follow While doing Gangs of Filmistan we use to do rehearsals on our cell phone we read our script on video calls Which earlier we never thought it would work but on the contrary it was very convenient for all of us Wherever we were we could rehearse without waiting for anybody Pandemic made us quite selfdependent Atmanirbhar as our honourable Prime minister saidThe new normal indeed made the actors Atmanirbhar Earlier we had a spot boy who would took care of our refreshments but in the new norms we have started carrying our own requirements like water tea etc We all were so used to or I can say dependent on spot boy for tea and all that initially it became a bit uncomfortable because we were not used to it We used to just call spotdada for water and now I carry everything I require throughout the day And I am absolutely fine with it now