TV Serial Actors Might Have To Hug Mannequins To Film Intimate Scenes Due To COVID-19 Scare

After receiving permission from various state governments to resume shooting, many TV serials are gearing up to return to the sets by adhering to the guidelines issued to combat the spread of COVID-19. Some of the key rules to be adhered to include, not shooting with child actors below the age of 10 and senior actors above the age of 65.

Meanwhile, the Bengali small screen industry has recently resumed shooting after 87 days. Many makers have decided to include COVID-19 in their storylines in order to explain social distancing between various characters. Writer-director Leena Gangopadhyay of Bengali TV serial Sreemoyee told TOI, “We shot a scene with a character called Sankalpa. He is down with fever and has to be hospitalized. So, when someone wants to come close and check his temperature, Sankalpa asks the person to stay away and says: 'Don’t come. Tumi kachhe esho na karon ekhon Corona hochhe’.” (sic)

For the unversed, a minimum of 6 feet distance has to be maintained between two actors at all times during filming. This has posed another problem for shows as most of them have a huge ensemble of actors and in case of scenes involving a family, it now has to be written and shot in ways that don’t require characters to stand close to one another.

While a few makers plan on including social distancing caused due to the virus in their storylines, others are coming up with creative options such as planning on using mannequins for intimate scenes and for shots that require show actors to hug each on-screen. Kolkata based Sani Ghosh Ray, who produces Phirki, Dhrubotara, Sanjher Bati among other shows revealed, “Everyone has been very cooperative. For the hugging scenes, we were planning to use cheat scenes and use mannequins for those characters who have their back to the camera.” As a result, the artist facing the camera will actually be embracing a mannequin that is in costume!