Amid lockdowns and other restrictions imposed in Kerala to control the second wave of COVID-19, filmmaker Alphonse Puthren questioned why film shootings have been banned. He asked why people in the film industry are not allowed to work when those selling milk and food are. The director of Premam asked how they would buy milk and get food without earning money.
Alphonse's post comes at a time when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced a series of relaxations to the extended lockdowns in the state. However, film shooting or production has not been included among the relaxations that are allowed from June 17.
Alphonse asks, "Why is film shooting not allowed ? If people who sell milk are allowed to work and people who sell food are allowed to work .. Why are film people not allowed to work ? How do we eat food? How do we buy milk ? How do we teach our children ? How do we buy a pencil box for our children? How do we earn money ? Cinema shooting doesn’t happen like in cinema theatres ... even if we have to shoot a close up or a wide shot we have to stand two meters away or more . So what logic are you telling here ? Please think and tell me a solution . Thank you (sic)."
On the evening of June 15, CM Pinarayi allowed a series of relaxations from Thursday, limiting stricter restrictions to areas with a higher test positivity rate.
All production work of films was suspended by the end of April when the per-day cases increased to tens of thousands. Film theatres had opened in the state in mid-January this year after being closed for the previous ten months, during the first wave of COVID-19. A number of films released in the three-month period that theatres were open. However major releases like Malik, Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, Thuramukham and other movies, scheduled to release in May during Eid, had to be shelved again.
Alphonse Puthren, who has made two popular films Neram and Premam, had announced his third film Paattu with Fahadh Faasil in the lead last year. The film’s shooting began in January this year.