The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday announced that the ongoing lockdown in the state will be extended by one more week till June 28 and has allowed a few more relaxations. Authorities have divided the districts into three tiers - Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3. Tier 1 will comprise 11 districts where no additional lockdown relaxations have been allowed due to the high COVID-19 caseload. The districts include Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Karur, Namakkal, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai. In Tier 2, there are 23 districts, which have been provided additional relaxations. The districts include Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Kanyakumari, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Ranipet, Sivagangai, Theni, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Thirupathur, Thiruvannamalai, Thoothukudi, Trichy, Villupuram, Vellore and Virudhunagar. And, in Tier 3, the districts that get additional relaxations along with those extended to Tier-2 districts are Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpet.

As Chennai falls under the Tier-3 category and the number of COVID-19 cases has been on the decline for the past few days, this has brought in good news for the Tamil film industry as the state government has given the nod now for film and television shootings to be carried with a maximum of 100 persons in attendance along with orders for all artists and crew members to take RT-PCR tests. Furthermore, theatres and cinema halls in the state have been allowed to carry out maintenance work in their establishment once a week with prior approval. This willchiyaan 60 shootin no doubt come as a big relief for a number of film productions that will be looking forward to resume and complete their pending ventures. 

Although there has been no official statement from any major production house in Tamil Nadu as yet as to their plans on when they will resume shooting, it is expected that the biggie among the lot, Thalapathy 65, starring Vijay will most likely begin shooting soon in Chennai after the team takes a look at the coronavirus situation. Likewise, 'Thala' Ajith's highly-anticipated Valimai, which has some portions to be shot abroad, will also be likely taking a call in the days ahead on their plans to head overseas based on the situation in the state. The same can be said about Suriya 40 under Pandiraj's direction being produced by Sun Pictures and Chiyaan 60 starring Vikram and his son Dhruv along with a number of other high-profile projects. Among the films that are awaiting their releases, we know that Sivakarthikeyan's much-awaited Doctor had been initially announced to come out in March before being delayed to May after which it was indefinitely postponed. The makers will possibly arrive at a decision going forward based on the Tamil Nadu government's latest decision, with all eyes next on the news of the reopening of the theatres and cinema halls.