Business as ‘almost’ usual for stars who are shooting for their projects post lockdown 2.0

Gurnaaz Kaur

After a savage second wave, the entertainment industry is limping back to normalcy. Among the first ones to be back to filming were Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar and Ranveer Singh.

Last month when Akshay began work on Raksha Bandhan. He tweeted, “Day one of shoot today, need your love and best wishes.”Around the same time, Ranveer returned to work for an unidentified film that is said to be a huge project. This was when there was still a partial lockdown in the city. As the rules ease out some more, many actors are back to shoot. The industry needs to restart and its stakeholders can’t agree more.

Akki the pioneer

Beginning with Akshay Kumar; the actor has already wrapped the Mumbai schedule of Aanand L Rai’s upcoming Raksha Bandhan. Sharing some BTS pictures from the film’s shoot, he wrote, “I am already missing walking down these streets of Chandni Chowk. Even though it was a make-believe set… you made it look so real, take a bow @sumitbasu62. My wonderful co-star @bhumipednekar , thank you for providing the right balance with your splendid talent. And @aanandlrai sir…what can I say about you, besides that you’re a wizard and today as we wrap up the Mumbai schedule of #RakshaBandhan, I know I’m leaving the set a better actor.”

Two much pressure

Deepika Padukone is working on her much-awaited film, Pathan, that will see her reunite with her debut co-star Shah Rukh Khan. Still recovering from a severe bout of Covid-19, the actress is already juggling between two projects, the other being Shakun Batra’s untitled next. For Pathan, she will be performing high-octane action scenes.

Work schedules of these actors aren’t easy. Waking up at wee hours and reaching the sets before 4 am is a drill that Nushrratt Bharuccha has been doing for her upcoming film being shot in Mumbai.

Known to take his action stunts and performance a notch higher with every film, Tiger Shroff is currently shooting for his upcoming film Heropanti 2. While filming the climax sequence for the film, the actor took to his social media to share a video. He said, “Keeping my body warm in between one of the most challenging sequences I’ve done…you guys gonna love what’s coming #climax action #heropanti2.”

Morale boosters

Social media updates are a great way to stay clued in but what’s the ground reality of shooting after the second wave? A stellar performance later, Sharib Hashmi is now in the US shooting for Shivshastri Balboa. Excited to be shooting, he calls it a blessing. “I was craving to go back to work. The second wave hit us really bad and I even got Covid positive. Thankfully, it was a mild one but my heart goes out to people who suffered in the second wave.”

The situation is far from normal but Sharib says it’s the vaccination that brings hope. Divya Dutta agrees with him. “It is a relief that most of us are fully vaccinated on the sets. We started with shooting smaller campaigns like ad films that were shot indoors and with minimal crew but now as I have started shooting for Dhaakad in Budapest, it is slightly coming back to normal.”

But Pankaj Tripathi feels being fully vaccinated isn’t still enough. He’s of the opinion that personal precautions can’t be taken lightly. “Yes, we are vaccinated and there is a dedicated Covid protocol team that scans temperature and oxygen level of every person on the sets. Every week we have the RTPCR tests, so all this makes things better than before. But the minute a shot is cut, I take out my mask from my pocket and wear it till an action is rolled. I’ve made it a rule for myself.”

There is hope

TV actress Pooja Gor feels anxious about working but she says, “I feel scared when I see too many people. Having said that the production team is doing their best to keep us safe. These are strange times, so this is the new normal and one needs to adapt to it.”