Lockdown effect: staying away from the Maximum City!

Since the start of lockdown (around March-end), a number of people -- including several actors and filmmakers -- have been out of Mumbai. The list includes names such as Shoojit Sircar and Anees Bazmee. Both of them have been away from the Maximum City, along with their families, in Kolkata (West Bengal) and Lonavala (Maharashtra) respectively.

Although a number of Bollywood films are likely to hit the floors from next month onwards, Sircar and Bazmee aren’t clear yet about them returning to the city. While Sircar is working remotely, with his editors, on the edit of his next, Sardar Udham Singh, the shooting of Bazmee’s upcoming Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 came to a grinding halt in March dud to Covid-19 pandemic.

“Right now, I don’t have anything specific that I have to be in the city for,” says Sircar, adding: “I am also enjoying living the simple life wherein I am helping with household chores, watching some interesting content (on OTT platforms) and also taking time out for gardening etc.” The Pink director is also penning his new film for which he is also doing “a lot of research, reading and writing.” Furthermore, the filmmaker feels that the lockdown period has given many like him “to do some introspection as well.”

Bazmee, on the other hand, says he is ready to return to Mumbai “whenever his producers want him to.” He says: “For Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, we have to go back to Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) itself for the film’s shooting, in order to maintain the continuity. But whenever we decide to travel there, it has to be done with a lot of planning and care every cast and crew member’s well-being has to be ensured. Let’s see when that happens. As a filmmaker, I can’t wait to be back on a film set with all madness and creative forces working together.”