Rana Daggubati is one of Tollywood's leading actors

Shooting for films and TV will be allowed in the southern state of Telangana, as India begins to exit its lockdown this week.

The state's chief minister said on Monday that shoots can resume as long as guidelines on limited staff and other social distancing measures are followed. Cinemas will remain closed, K Chandrashekhar Rao added.

Several prominent actors from the state met Rao recently and requested him to resume shooting for films and television, local media reported.

The state is home to Tollywood, one of India's biggest regional film industries, which routinely produces blockbuster hits that rival Bollywood's most popular films.

Experts say that India's thriving film industry could take at least two years to financially recover from the pandemic, having lost more than $100m in box office revenues due to the lockdown, according to some estimates.

BBC