Big budget Bollywood projects with elaborate foreign schedules stuck in limbo

Katrina Kaif

With film and television shoots stalled till May 15, filmmakers will have an uphill task of making up for lost time when shoots resume. But a tougher road ahead awaits big-budget productions that have been envisioned against the picturesque backdrops of foreign locations. As several countries bar flights from India in the wake of its deadly second wave and the possibility of international travel in the coming months remains bleak, producers have little option but to defer their projects.

Akshay Kumar

A prime example is Akshay Kumar's The End, an ambitious action series that was to go on floors in the last quarter of the year. For now, producer Vikram Malhotra says the team is taking it one day at a time. "The End was scheduled to be set for international outdoors. Fortunately, there's time. We need to finish Ram Setu first, which is held up due to the lockdown. We haven't zeroed in on countries or geographies; just shortlist options at this stage. The reason why we are holding back international shoots is because of the looming discussions about Travel restrictions, vaccine passports, conditions in that local country which will play a key role in deciding where we go. Our crews are 18-44 category and we need them to be vaccinated before shoots start. The challenge is the domestic situation is so bad that shooting or shooting abroad is not even playing on our minds.," he says.

Apne 2, starring Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby Deol, is expected to roll in London in August

If things had gone as per plan, Katrina Kaif would be showing her action prowess in front of the camera by mid-2021. But director Ali Abbas Zafar cannot kick off his actioner in the UAE until the entire cast and crew is vaccinated. The timeline of several projects is directly linked to the nationwide vaccination drive. A unit hand, who was expected to head to Europe for the filming of a Disney+Hotstar show, points out, "Given the vaccine shortage and the backlog it will create, it's unlikely that those in the 18-44 bracket will complete both their doses before year-end."

Director Anil Sharma, who had already pushed the filming of Apne 2 from April to August, may be second time unlucky. "Nobody knows if things will be under control by August. If not, we will delay it further, but we won't risk anybody's life." Sharma notes that adhering to the local quarantining rules means exceeding the crew's stay by two weeks, which will be an added expense.