Bengali film and television units outside the containment zones will resume post-production work in the state, said chief minister Mamatà Banerjee.
The announcement followed a meeting of the representatives of the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI), Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA), Welfare Association of Television Producers (WATP) and The West Bengal Motion Picture Artistes Forum. They sent a letter to the state government requesting permission to begin working on some of the unfinished projects.
According to a report by carried by the daily, The Times of India, the chief minister said, "Currently, we have decided to allow post-production work ,like editing, dubbing and mixing outside the containment zones. As far as shootings are concerned, we will have to wait for some more days."
Post-production work has already resumed in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada film and television industries.
Among many other films, the post-production work on SVF Entertainment Pvt Ltd's Kakababur Protyabartan (2020) by Srijit Mukherji, Anindya Chattopadhyay's Prem Tame (2020) and Hoichoi, as well as the web-series, Tanshener Tanpura will resume.
Producer Mahendra Soni said that all safety guidelines like physical distancing would be followed. However, they now need to check on the availability of studios for dubbing and editing. EditfX studio will start work early next week, though they are concerned about how they will involve technicians coming from different containment zones.
EIMPA president Piya Sengupta said, "While dubbing needs a maximum of five people, editing requires the editor and the director. With so few people, it won't be difficult to start operations."
Prosenjit Chatterjee, who plays the protagonist in Kakababur Protyabartan, called the step a good decision as all the artistes are eager to return to work.