Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah: Dilip Joshi AKA Jethalal On Resuming Work Amid COVID-19 Restrictions, 'Felt As If We Were Shooting In A Hospital'
As Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah's Dilip Joshi AKA Jethalal resumes shooting, he reveals the first few days felt like he was in a hospital.
With the Coronavirus pandemic taking over the country, a lot of normals have been introduced keeping everyone's safety in mind. The list includes wearing masks-face protection, carrying sanitizers, maintaining a social distance and staying indoors as much as possible. Well, after a shutdown of three months, the shootings in Mumbai have resumed with the above-mentioned guidelines. Among many shows, Sab TV's Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, too, has gone back on floors. In an interview with Times Of India, Dilip Joshi AKA Jethalal opened up getting back on the sets amid the latest protocols. And, as per him, the first few days felt as if they were shooting inside a hospital.
Dilip revealed, "We have changed the entire process of shooting on the sets because it is not possible to shoot with so many people during this pandemic. We also have a huge technical staff and they also have to take precautions. They are sanitizing their hands, wearing masks. In fact, when we first started shooting post the lockdown for the first two days we felt as if we were shooting in a hospital as there was a strong smell of sanitizers around, everyone was wearing masks. We wondered how to do comedy. But I feel the situation is such that we can't do anything and we have to adapt to it. We try our level best that all this shouldn't harm the work and people should get entertained like before."
Opening up on the kind of precautions they are taking, Dilip stated that they are ensuring to work with a lesser star cast and maintaining social distancing on the sets. Dilip also credited his producer Asit Kumar Modi for making all the arrangements and setting up sanitizers on every few metres. "We have a huge star cast so we have to take extra precautions and shoot. Even if we try and work with few actors then also we have enough people on set because of our star cast. We are lucky that we have enough space with us on our sets to maintain social distancing. Asit bhai our producer has made good arrangements on the sets, he has got sanitizers on sets every few metres," said the 52-year-old actor.
He added, "Our makeup room gets sanitized before we arrive, then before our lunch break and post-lunch also. The indoor set where we shoot that also gets sanitized. Our entire staff is very cooperative, they all wear masks while shooting."
image source: instagram/dilip_joshi001_