Television serial cast, crew heave sigh of relief

Shooting resume after relaxations in lockdown restrictions

Vinod Kovoor heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced during his daily briefing that the shoot of television serials could now be resumed.

Actors and others associated with television industry had become jobless when the shoot of television programmes had to stopped because of the State-wide lockdown induced by the spurt in COVID-19 cases. For an industry that gives livelihoods to thousands, a longer lockdown would have been disastrous.

“I am looking forward to facing the camera once again,” says Vinod, who is one of the main actors in the popular comedy show

Marimayam on Mazhavil Manorama. “All my colleagues are relieved and happy that we can return to work.”

Main income

For most of the cast and crew of

Marimayam , he says, the show has been the main source of income for the last 10 years. “We joke that the payment from Marimayam is our monthly salary,” he says. “We have five days of shoot every month. Everything else, such as stage shows, we do is a bonus.”

There has hardly been any show for artistes like Vinod for over a year, now. While he is eagerly waiting for the shoot of

Marimayam to begin, some other serials are already back on the floor.

The shoot of Swanthanam resumed in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Its producer M. Renjith said he couldn’t have afforded a further delay.

“We were all waiting for the relaxation of the lockdown guidelines,” he says. “Making serials is a business that gives low margin to the producer; so it is imperative that we need to work on a regular basis.”

Renjith adds that on a given day about 40 Malayalam serials are shot. “So one can imagine how many lives depend on them,” he says. “Serials are also the main source of entertainment in most households. Many people ask me when Swanthanam will be back on air.”

Their wait will end on July 5, when the latest episode will be screened on Asianet.