COVID affects K’Town shoots and releases

Following World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 as a pandemic, the production and release of numerous films have been stopped in India. Producers are worried about paying interests to the financiers despite the shoots of their films coming to a halt.

Many projects, including Vikram’s Cobra, have stumbled in K’Town. Director Ajay Gnanamuthu of Demonte Colony and Imaikkaa Nodigal fame, who is helming Cobra, took to Twitter, to vent his frustration. “We have packed up the shoot in Russia and are returning to India as per the travel ban rules from the Indian government,” he wrote. Produced by Viacom 18 studios and 7 Screen Studio with music composed by AR Rahman, Cobra stars Vikram, Srinidhi Shetty, KS Ravikumar, Mirnalini Ravi and former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan making his debut, who is speculated to play the antagonist.

In the first week of March, superstar Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe’s movie unit decided to cancel their shoot in North India that was planned with the star ensemble that includes Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Meena, Khushbu, Prakashraj, Robo Shankar, Soori, and Sathish. Similarly, the crew of Vijay’s upcoming flick, Master, announced that the audio launch on March 15 was previously planned to be held in a stadium but later shifted to a hotel in the city to exercise precautions. The crew of Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan too cancelled shooting in Pune. A source close to the film told DT Next, “The cast was informed by the production unit on Tuesday that the upcoming schedule has been cancelled. The dates will be informed once the threat of coronavirus ceases.”

However, despite the virus scare, some film units have decided to carry on the shoot as per plan. Director-choreographer Prabhudheva doesn’t seem to have a problem going ahead with the shoot of his upcoming film Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai with Salman Khan in the lead. Co-starring Disha Patani, the production continues and the makers insist they are strictly following the safety norms of WHO. The crew aim to finish shooting by end of March. Likewise, a source closely associated with the production unit of Ajith’s film Valimai told DT Next that the shoot is in fullswing in city.

Producers have also delayed release dates of many films. Akshay Kumar starrer Sooryavanshi and Ranveer Singh’s 83 scheduled to be released on March 24 and April 10 respectively had their dates changed. Several Hollywood films, including A Quiet Place 2, Mulan, Fast and Furious 9, New Mutants and Antlers, feel the corona heat as the makers have pushed the release dates. However, amid all the chaos, actors have taken on social media to share messages of compassion, unity and in some cases, selfies of themselves wearing face masks. Tamil actor Arvind Swami said on Twitter to “stay calm and be safe”, while Priyanka Chopra encouraged fans to follow basic personal hygiene. Also, Amitabh Bachchan shared a poem in Awadhi to spread awareness in a video while Aamir Khan offered support to his fans in China.