Arjun Ghimire spent most of his days on the set of his famous show Sakkigoni in Panchkhal, Kavre. Ghimire acts in and directs the comedy show, which airs every Thursday on Nepal Television, so his days were planned according to the show.

But with the lockdown in place to stem the spread of Covid-19, Ghimire is now in Kathmandu and has been spending his days in his house practising social distancing, just like everyone else. The production of his show has come to a halt.

“Times are tough. But this is something we have to do,” says Ghimire. “I hope this settles down quickly so we can carry on with our lives as soon as possible.” Ghimire’s show isn’t the only show that has stopped production for the time being. Shooting for most shows has been cancelled and those due to air on television have been suspended.

“We don’t have any new episodes, which is why we’ve been airing shows that had done well previously. We’ve been utilising this time to work on scripts and will be shooting as soon as this lock down is over,” says Ghimire. “For now, we want to apologise to our fans for not having many shows as back up.”

Like Ghimire, director of Himalaya Roadies Aman Pratap Adhikari is confined to his home. Like most producers and directors, Adhikari is worried how the virus will affect his show, which is on its third season and airs on Himalaya TV. Even though most of the episodes have already been shot, Adhikari says the last three episodes are yet to be edited.

“Editing the show is a tedious process. It takes me and my team three weeks to edit one episode,” says Adhikari. “With all of my editors at home, the lockdown has affected us. As soon as the lockdown is over, we’ll be back to work and complete the remaining three episodes.”

While Adhikari’s show just needs editing, for the producer of Nepal Idol, the problem is bigger. The show still is yet to complete shooting.

“We were hopeful we could do it by not having an audience at the show, but even our team members, including judges and crew, made up more than 25 people. So we decided to suspend the show altogether until further notice,” says Suresh Poudel, director and producer of Nepal Idol.

Poudel says four episodes, including the grand finale, are left to be shot. But now the producers of the show are thinking of just shooting two more to wrap up the series quickly.

“It’s been thought of. But we can’t say for certain what will happen. Right now all our contestants are at their respective homes. Until this lockdown is over and the disease is under control, we can’t be certain regarding what will happen,” said Poudel.

Both Poudel and Adhikari don’t have much to worry about as they produce shows for television channels themselves. But for Ghimire, who has purchased air time, this lockdown is a worry.

But Kamal Mani Nepal, an actor on Sakkigoni, is taking this lockdown positively. While he says it has affected him financially, he likes the fact he gets to spend time with his family.

“I would always be busy shooting which is why I never had the time to spend time with my family. This virus has given me a chance to do that,” says Nepal. “That said, it does feel weird to not be working. I hope we can get back to shooting as soon as possible. Until then we must adhere to the government’s decision and stay home.”