Erica Fernandes, the leading actress who plays Prerna Sharma in Ekta Kapoor’s Kasautii Zindagii Kay recently told the reason as to why she is shooting from home and what are her plans on returning to the set of the show.
“I tested negative, but the testing was done at an early stage. So, wanted to wait for a few more days, get another test done after 10 days and then get back to the set. But since we were already on air, we had to continue work and this is the best way forward,” said Erica Fernandes on returning to the shoot.
According to a report by Mirror (July 17), a three-day compulsory halt was followed after Parth Samthaan, who plays Anurag Basu in Kasautii Zindagii Kay tested COVID positive, and the shooting resumed on Friday with Karan Patel and Pooja Banerjee. But, soon it was learnt that Aamna Sharif, who plays Komolika, has a staff member who was infected and was given a few more days off. Now, both Aamna and Erica Fernandes have been shooting from home.
Erica confirmed that there have been four cases including Parth, Aamna’s staff and two watchmen, who were reported positive on the set and this was the reason she decided to shoot from home.
The actress shares the complications one has to face while shooting from home where there is no director, cameraman, sound recordist, light man, hairstylist, make-up person and spot boy; and one single person has to be all of them at the same time while acting as well. Erica accepts that shooting from home isn’t easy. “But I have an online channel for which I used to do everything on my own and that experience is coming in handy since it taught me intricacies of handling a camera, fixing the lights, monitoring the sound and getting dressed up on my own. My only challenge has been not having my co-star in front and having to imagine how the other person will react.” she admits.
Erica is shooting on a 12-hour daily shift, where the team is coordinating with her through video calls. She also informs that the director, DOP and someone from the creative team is always on call. She asserts that they are trying to give their best shot at once and are avoiding retakes.
Erica also praised producer Ekta Kapoor, who treats her team extremely well. “It wouldn’t have been hard for them to replace me, but they are cooperating and trying to find ways to make things work. Both the channel and Ekta have so much at stake and they are still being so considerate. So, I have been trying to give my best,” she said. She also added that she is not sure how long she will shoot from home. And, when asked about Parth, she said, “We’ve been checking on him constantly. He got tested again recently and this time he was negative. He is recuperating well.”
