In June, as the showbiz industry was gearing up with resume work after three months of lockdown, director Sanjay Gupta informed that the shoot of his upcoming crime thriller Mumbai Saga will be wrapped in Hyderabad's Ramoji Film City. Featuring John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff and others, the makers were delighted to start shooting from July 15. However, with the constant spike in COVID-19 cases in the nation, Sanjay and the team of Mumbai Saga are planning to complete the pending work in Mumbai itself. Talking to a leading daily, the director said the 14-day shoot schedule included three outdoor sequences and with rumours that the novel Coronavirus is airborne, it would have posed a major risk. Saying that Hyderabad is as unsafe as Mumbai now, the team might as well wrap the film in the city itself.
"The country recorded 30,000 cases in a single day. Moreover, the World Health Organisation's [WHO] statement about the possibility of the virus being airborne was alarming. It stated that the virus can remain in the air in crowded closed spaces. Of the 14-day shoot that I had planned, we were to film at three indoor sets for 10 days. That would have posed a risk. We wanted to shoot in Hyderabad, but now it's as unsafe as Mumbai. So, we might as well do it in our city," Sanjay told.
Sanjay further said that the team is trying to seek permission to shoot in Mumbai from August 15. He told that there might be a delay too due to the current situation. He added three studios are being considered for Mumbai Saga. "John, Emraan and the rest of us were kicked about shooting in Hyderabad, but we can't do so by putting everyone's health at risk. John was to finish the pending work on Mumbai Saga before moving on to his next. But with cases on the rise, we decided it would be best to take stock of the situation after a month. We will try to procure permission to shoot from August 15, and are eyeing three studios — Mehboob, Essel and Film City. Given the current situation, the dates are tentative," he added.
Mumbai Saga also features Gulshan Grover, Rohit Roy, Samir Soni, Amole Gupte, Prateik Babbar and Kajal Aggarwal. It is a Gulshan Kumar presentation, and is backed by T-Series and White Feather Films production. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Sangiita Ahir and Anuradha Gupta.
(Source: Mid-Day)
