Raveena Tandon was back at shooting for the first time after the coronavirus attack took place. The actress for a change, shot at her own home and with a limited crew of two. She did her own hair and make-up as she modeled for a sanitiser brand. She lets us in on the secrets of working in the new normal.

After how long did you resume your shoot?

I shot for the shoot after four months. Just before the lockdown commenced, I did one shoot and now it's this one.

You shot just a few days ago. How big a crew was it?

The shoot happened on Friday, July 10, 2020 at my residence with all the necessary precautions and minimum crew members. There were just two crew members from production present and they had worn PPE kits.

The scenario has changed now. So, how was it shooting keeping in mind the new normal and amid restrictions? Take us through the process, including maintaining social distancing amid the crew/production members. How many were present at the shoot?

Yes, the scenario has changed but as we say change is the only constant. If you go to see there are two sides to the coin and with the new normal and limited crew members it took us less time to complete any of my shoots ever... yes, with the PPE kits, everyone has to maintain pin drop silence as they can't move because there's a rustle with the PPE kits. Only two members were allowed in the house, one being the cameraman and the other was the sound recordist. All their equipment was disinfected before they entered the house and I followed the social distancing norm with the crew members. Meanwhile, packaged water, tea and coffee was served in disposable glasses. I feel after this I am ready for this new normal.

A celeb has to resonate with the brand and especially in this case, we know that you are quite selective about the projects/work you pick up. Doing a commercial for a sanitiser brand must have seemed like an apt choice. Is it?

Yes, sanitisers have become an integral part of our lives now and will remain so. But, to be true I was always this person who carried the sanitiser with me wherever I go much before the pandemic even happened. It is because of the current situation people realized its importance. It is just that now there are different types of sanitisers for every purpose so this was the right brand to associate with and resonated with me quite well. This is why I opted for a sanitiser brand because it was a win-win situation.

You also have pets at home. Any precautionary measures around them during the shoot?

All the pets were on the top floor in my room because the shoot was happening on the ground level in the living area. The pets were inside and they didn't come in contact with any of the people from the outside.

As an artiste, how have you adjusted to shooting in the post-pandemic world?

I did my own hair and make-up. It came handy to me as I had some expertise in it already having done my hair and make-up earlier as well. It was a little difficult because there was nobody to take care of me or to fix my outfit or hair, this is time we understand the importance of our team. It was a little time consuming since I had to take care of all those aspects myself. Whereas, in a normal scenario, there are people who look after styling and make sure that the outfit is proper and the hairstylist will take care of the hair. So yeah, I did everything on my own and I've understood that this is going to be a normal way of life with limited staff members moving forward.