22 May,2021 07:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu
Stills from Four More Shots Please
The European Union, on Wednesday, announced that it will soon reopen its borders for fully vaccinated travellers. Among the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen. Closer home, this news came as a ray of hope for the makers of films and web series who have long put their foreign schedules on the backburner. Zoya Akhtar and Nitya Mehra had lined up an extensive Made in Heaven schedule for April 2020. After waiting out the 2020 lockdown, the team began filming the second season in Delhi this year. "The makers had to cancel their Italy leg last year. If all goes well, the international schedule will kick off in the latter half of 2021," says a source.
Before producers can begin reworking their plans, the top priority is to get the cast and crew vaccinated. Four More Shots Please creator Rangita Pritish Nandy has apparently kept a six-month window before lead actors Kirti Kulhari, Sayani Gupta, Maanvi Gagroo and Bani J can be Europe-bound. "The team had begun shooting the third season in February in Mumbai, but had to soon call time on it in April. With the timelines now being reworked, they are targeting November for the international leg," says a source.
However, the shortage of vaccines may disrupt the best-laid plans. While Aditya Chopra has teamed up with the Federation of Western India Cine Employees to inoculate 30,000 film workers, BN Tiwari, president, FWICE, says, "In case of foreign shoots, the concerned production houses will get the crew vaccinated."