Thiruvananthapuram, July 14 : After Kitex, a leading industrial group decided to move to Telangana after alleging harassment in home state Kerala, many film producers here are upset because Covid restrictions are not being eased, and therefore are shifting shooting locations to Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
One of the biggest producers in the Malayalam film industry, Antony Perumabavoor said that despite waiting for long, things here are still under lockdown norms.
“One of my films has been waiting for release for the past 18 months due to the pandemic.Now two films starring Mohanlal, which were to have been shot here, have been long delayed and hence we are moving to Telangana and the first one will begin its shoot tomorrow.
This film is being directed by actor Prithviraj,” said Perumbavoor.
Due to the lockdown norms in Kerala, film shooting is not taking place here which is affecting the industry severely.However, with Telangana and Tamil Nadu opening up, industry sources said that seven films are all set to move out.
“I have taken up the issue of resuming film shooting with numerous people, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, but due to obvious reasons, nothing has happened.But, we cannot wait any longer.We all know that shooting outside Kerala is expensive, but still we have to do it,” added Perumbavoor.
The Covid pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the Malayalam film industry and according to industry sources close to 100 films are ready for release, but are unable to be released and around Rs 800 crore is currently blocked because of this.
There are 720 movie halls in the state and the owners are also in dire straits.Many expected that these halls will open soon, the second Covid wave, however, has derailed all plans.
“This is a big loss as many of those who eke out a living working in the film industry here will be further crippled as when a shoot is shifted from one state to another, only those who are really needed, will move from here, and the other support will be taken from the location only,” said a worried person who works as a light boy at the film sets and has out of job for a long time
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