Film business returning to normal as tinsel town stars resume shoot of under production films, web series 

By Rajesh Ahuja

With the Maharashtra government announcing a five level unlock process in the state from June 7 following a drop in the coronavirus infections since the last two weeks, operations of the film business are slowly returning to normalcy .

Following the Maharashtra government permitting shooting of television shows and films from the first week of June in districts of the state where positivity rate is below 5 per cent, stars of tinsel town,  including megastar Amitabh Bachchan,  Akshay Kumar,  Alia bhatt,  Shahrukh khan, Salman khan, Sushmita Sen and  Shahid Kapoor are slowly  returning to shootings for their under production films Goodbye, Raksha Bandhan,  Gangubhai Kathiawadi, Tiger 3, Pathan, Bhediya and web series like season 2 of Aarya and Shahid Kapoor's debut web series. 

With easing of lockdown conditions,  many Bollywood stars look to resume shooting for their under production films & web series 

Under the five level unlock process,  the Maharashtra government has permitted shooting of television shows and films from the first week of June in districts of the state where positivity rate is below 5 per cent.

Also, after a drop in COVID-19 cases in many states, several stste governments have announced a relaxation in restrictions on various activities , including opening of restaurants,  spas and saloons. With the cases expected to drop further in the coming weeks, more outdoor activities like gyms, sports events and shootings are expected to be allowed.

Trade sources said that Akshay Kumar is likely to resume shooting for his under production film Raksha Bandhan,  directed by Anand Rai, next week. 

Earlier this week, superstar Amitabh Bachchan resumed shooting of his under production film Goodbye.

The megastar posted a picture of himself going for the shooting of an under production film wearing a mask.

'7 am .. driving to work .. first day shooting after Lockdown 2.0 .. on with the PANGOLIN mask .. and the MANIFESTATION :
“every day in ever way things will get better and better and better, “ Mr Bachchan  posted.

Goodbye features Amitabh Bachchan with Neena Gupta,  Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna.

The coming weeks could also witness resumption of shooting for Alia bhatt starrer Gangubhai Kathiawadi, the Shahtukh khan starrer Pathan , the Salman khan starrer Tiger 3, the Varun Dhawan starrer Bhediya and Shahid Kapoor 's debut web series with Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K .

Superstar Shahrukh Khan earlier this week hinted at resumption of shoot for his new film Pathan soon.

Posting a bearded selfy of himself on his social media account,  Shahrukh khan  wished all people who are moving towards getting to normalcy 'safe and healthy days and months of work ahead'.

Sharing a black and white picture of himself with a beard, the king khan said,'they say time is measured in days, months and beards….Time now for a trim and get back to work I guess…Wishing everyone who is getting back to a bit of normalcy…safe and healthy days and months of work ahead….love u all.”,

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Trade sources said that the shooting for Pathan,featuring Shahrukh,  Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in lead roles and Dimple Kapadia in a key role,e , will commence from June 21.

Trade sources said that Alia Bhatt is also scheduled to resume shooting for her under production films Gangubhai Kathiawadi and SS Rajamouli’s RRR next week.

Further,  shooting is expected to commence next month for the debut web series of Shahid Kapoor which is being helped by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. 

An earlier shooting schedule for the web series,  which also features Vijay Sethupathi in a key role,  was held in Goa before the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. 

Shooting is also expected by June end for the season 2 of the web series Aarya,  featuring Sushmita Sen. 

In an interaction with the media earlier this month,  Sushmita Sen had revealed that shoot  for a small  portion of the series remains to be held . She said that the shooting would resume soon after easing of restrictions in the country due to the second wave of COVID-19. 

Further, Varun Dhawan will resume the last schedule for supernatural thriller Bhediya in Arunachal Pradesh  next month .

As part of efforts for bringing me film business back to normalcy,  various film production houses and film associations have initiated drives to vaccinate workers and professionals engaged in the film trade.

Ahead of the unlock process,  the Producers Guild of India, the leading association of the Indian film, television and digital content producers ,  launched  a vaccination drive for its members and associated production crews as part of its efforts to protect crew of various film production houses against COVID-19. 

Through these camps, thousands of production house personnel and crews are being   vaccinated over a multi city drive  held at Mehboob Studios starting June 1.

https://raju0568.blogspot.com/2021/05/producers-guild-of-india-to-organize.html

T series , Reliance entertainment and Excel entertainment have also been organizing vaccination drives for their staff and their families as part of the process of bring operations of the film industry back to normal.

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Yashraj films last week initiated a vaccination drive at the Yashraj Studios for workers associated with the film industry as part of efforts for return of the film business to normalcy.

The vaccination drive is being conducted at the YRF studios.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive,  nearly 4000 workers engaged in the film business will be vaccinated.

https://raju0568.blogspot.com/2021/06/raj-films-initiate-drive-to-vaccinate.html

Film actor and producer Ajay Devgn earlier this week organized a vaccination drive for workers associated with film industry and media professionals .

Ajay Devgn’s NY Foundation conducted a vaccination camp in which several.  workers associated with the entertainment industry and media professionals participated.

https://raju0568.blogspot.com/2021/06/ajay-devgn-organises-vaccination-camp.html

Restrictions put in place by the Maharashtra government in April forced makers of several on air television shows to halt shoot for the shows, leading to a loss of revenues for the producers of these shows.

Restrictions resulted in halting of shoot of films like Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathan , Salman Khan’s Tiger 3 , the Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer  Adipurush  and  Dongri To Dubai.

https://raju0568.blogspot.com/2021/04/shoot-for-tv-showsfilms-halted-due-to.html

The worsening covid situation in the country has resulted in makers of mega starrers Haathi Mere Saathi, Bunty Aur Babli2, Chehre, Sooryavanshi and Satyamev Jayate 2 and  Toofan  postponing release of these films till a later date.

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