When the world is grappling with uncertainty even superheroes have to wait! Peepingmoon.com has learned that Ali Abbas Zafar's superhero film with Katrina Kaif has been delayed by a year courtesy of the devastating second wave of COVID-19. The two-part Netflix Original tentatively titled Super Soldier will now hit the floors only next year once India emerges from this tricky period. Billed as Bollywood's first maiden superhero flick led by an actress, the film was originally supposed to get off the ground early this year but was postponed as the film required some more time in the pre-production.
"Ali Abbas Zafar has been working on this superhero film for the last two years now. They were first supposed to roll it in January 2021 but the last year's pandemic slowed down the pre-production work and hence they couldn't get ready to start shooting at the scheduled time. The second COVID-19 wave has further delayed the process and one doesn't know when things will start getting back to normalcy. Ali has envisioned this film on a humongous scale and it requires to be shot across four countries, which doesn't seem possible given the current circumstances, at least not this year. And hence, Ali and Netflix have collectively decided to defer the production till 2022," a source aware of the development informed us.
The filmmaker and the streaming giant are also said to be going through a re-evaluation to suit the present situation. However, they're not compromising on the quality and making sure the film is made as visualised. Ali and his team have already completed the recce and they're currently working digitally on the action parts with an international team that's been brought on board to design some temerarious, immaculate action sequences for the film. A larger-than-life superhero story rooted in an Indian setting, the film is scheduled to be shot in Delhi, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh as well as in foreign countries like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Poland, and Georgia.
Ali Abbas Zafar's this film that marks his fourth collaboration with Katrina Kaif after Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Tiger Zinda Hai and Bharat is expected to be a sort of game-changer for Hindi cinema that may pave way for many more female-led big-budget action films in the future. It's the first project in Ali's long-planned superhero universe which has three more films set in different backdrops, including Mr. India that carries forward bits from the Katrina starrer.
Meanwhile, Katrina Kaif has completed two schedules of Yash Raj Films' Tiger 3 and will start Sriram Raghavan's Merry Christmas as soon as shootings are allowed. The fast-paced suspense thriller will see her starring alongside South superstar Vijay Sethupathi. She is expected to do one more quickie before diving her all attention to Super Soldier and is currently in talks with a South filmmaker for the same!
