Srijit Mukherji, Prosenjit go into isolation for 14 days, Anjan Dutt faces criticism for not following health guidelines

Filmmaker Srijit Mukherji and actor Prosenjit Chatterjee returned from their shooting of Kakababur Protyaborton (202) in South Africa this morning. According to Mukherji, thanks to the Indian and African teams, they could finish their shooting a day before schedule and return to Kolkata.

As South Africa hasn't been severely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the artists were not asked to shift to isolation centres in Rajarhat. However, as per the guidelines announced by the state government, they have chosen to go into isolation themselves for the next 14 days.

In a tweet, the filmmaker expressed his concern saying, “Now for 14 days of a home quarantine as India enters the most crucial phase of the outbreak where individual cases spread to the community. This is the phase from where Italy spiralled into dystopian horror film where one of the most advanced health care systems in Europe is being forced to choose whom to save. We will have to see this through together, by not being together for some time.”

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— Srijit Mukherji (@srijitspeaketh) March 19, 2020

On the other hand, filmmaker Anjan Dutt faced severe criticism for not following the state government’s guideline after returning from his visit to Australia as he immediately chose to attend a gathering organised by the Bangladesh deputy high commission in Kolkata.

In his defence, the actor-singer-director told Anandabazar Patrika, a Bengali daily, “I went to the gathering celebrating the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman for only a few minutes. We [his band] went through a check-up in the airport and tested negative. Now we have decided go into self-isolation for the next 14 days."

He claimed that they cleaned themselves properly before attending the gathering, which during that time, did not have a crowd. “I only waved to them from a distance, did not shake hands with anybody - neither did I eat there. I am responsible enough," Dutt added.