Much to the disappointment of their avid audience, many popular soaps and TV shows are likely to take a hiatus from April.
Though production houses and channels were prepared for the lockdown till March 31 using reserve episodes, they can hardly pull through the three-week window now.
Vanambadi, one of the most popular serials that has completed over 900 episodes, can currently go on till April first week only, says producer M. Renjith. "After April 3 there will not be any new content left for telecast. It's an unanticipated situation and for the first time in three years we won't be able to dish out a new episode," he adds.
Since serials often introduce new tracks based on target rating point (TRP) fluctuations, they usually can not afford to go on a shooting spree and keep a large reserve. Also, it will not be easy for the industry to start operations immediately after the lockdown. "All schedules along with the dates of artists and technicians will change and we will need some time to re-establish the entire system. It will take at least a week to release a new episode after completing all works including dubbing," says Renjith.
Unexpected wait
“We were told that the shoots will resume by April, but then the entire scene changed last week with the nationwide lockdown. The majority of the ongoing shows will stop and all channels will be affected. It’s for the first time channels and production houses are facing such a crisis,” says Dinesh Panicker, general secretary, ATMA (Association of Television Media Artistes).
While many shows have extra footage, it is often not possible to air them without binding them together. “Depending on the availability of actors we shoot scenes every day, but they will not be in a chronological order. Having some random scenes doesn’t mean that we can air an episode without forming it. We first need to edit and match them filling the gaps and currently we don’t have the time for that. Since we weren't expecting a 21-day lockdown we had no back-up plan,” he says.
Uncertain future
A lot of people in the industry are currently staring at an uncertain future. “There are many actors and technicians who are completely dependent on the industry. They will be left with no income for nearly a month and soon fund-related issues are expected to crop up, deepening the crisis,” Mr. Panicker adds.
Meanwhile, entertainment channels are currently exploring all the possibilities to keep their viewers hooked. Continuing production is a challenge for even some in-house programmes as it is not possible without a minimum crew.
“We had to drop a number of Vishu and Easter specials and at present we are planning to manage with films. Reducing the episode duration from 23 minutes to 15 is also under consideration. Launching dubbed shows is another option before us,” says the programme head of a leading Malayalam channel.
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