Karan Johar's Dharma Suspends Production Due To Coronavirus Outbreak
News
oi-Swikriti Srivastava
By P T I
Filmmaker
Karan
Johar's
Dharma
Productions
on
Monday
announced
that
they
have
suspended
all
administrative
and
production
work
in
view
of
the
coronavirus
spread.
In
a
brief
statement
posted
on
the
banner's
official
Twitter
account,
the
company
said
they
had
decided
to
take
this
step
to
'minimise
the
risk
of
exposure'.
"In
view
of
the
epidemic
spread
of
Covid-19
virus
throughout
the
world
including
India,
we
at
Dharma
productions,
have
suspended
all
administrative
and
production
work
until
further
notice.
"This
decision
has
been
taken
keeping
in
mind
the
safety
of
all
and
we
are
complying
with
all
the
precautionary
measures
suggested
by
the
government
to
minimise
the
risk
of
exposure
to
cast,
crew,
workers
and
audience.
We
wish
everyone
to
stay
strong
and
healthy
in
the
face
of
ongoing
global
health
crisis.
We
will
see
you
at
movies
soon," the
statement
read.
Dharma's
statement
comes
a
day
after
various
film
bodies
in
India
including
Federation
of
Western
Indian
Cine
Employees
(FWICE),
Indian
Film
&
Television
Directors'
Association
(IFTDA)
and
Producers
Guild
of
India
decided
to
put
shootings
of
films,
TV
shows
and
web
series
on
hold
from
March
19
to
March
31.
"The
health
and
safety
of
our
colleagues
is
of
paramount
importance
to
the
Producers
Guild
of
India.
The
industry's
united
decision
to
suspend
shooting
between
the
period
March
19
to
31
is
the
need
of
the
hour
and
we
fully
support
it," Kulmeet
Makkar,
Chief
Executive
Officer,
Producers
Guild
of
India,
said
in
a
statement
on
Sunday.
Various
events,
award
functions,
interviews,
shooting
schedules
stand
postponed
in
view
of
the
coronavirus
outbreak.
The
novel
COVID-19,
which
originated
in
China's
Wuhan
city,
has
claimed
over
6,500
lives
and
infected
more
than
169,000
people
over
135
countries
and
territories.