Bollywood urges Maharashtra CM to allow actors over 65 years to work

The Hindi film industry has petitioned Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to allow actors, directors and producers above the age of 65 to work and not to make mandatory stationing of a doctor and nurse during shoots.

Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) on Tuesday sent a formal letter to Thackeray and Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, secretary, cultural affairs, to revisit the two clauses in the GR.

"These suggestions are practical...., " IFTDA president Ashoke Pandit said in the letter. According to him, actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Annu Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dharmendra, Shakti Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Pankaj Kapur, Jackie Shroff, Danny Denzongpa, Dalip Tahil, Tinnu Anand, Rakesh Bedi, Kabir Bedi are all above the age bracket of 64.

Similarly, directors, filmmakers and writers like Anil Sharma, David Dhawan, Subhash Ghai, Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, Prakash Jha, Shekhar Kapur, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Mahesh Bhat, Priyadarshan, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar fall in the same category.

"This clause is therefore impractical since it would restrict some of the great luminaries of our industry," Pandit said. The letter also said that the state is already facing issues due to non-availability of the doctors and nurses to cope with the increased number of patients from the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore it is not practical to have a doctor and a nurse to be stationed at each shooting premises.

"Instead we suggest having a doctor and nurse available area wise at the shooting locations," he added.