Zareen on film release, projects getting pushed: Worried over when normalcy will return

The film industry came to a grinding halt after the nationwide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Zareen had her film "Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele" up for release in March after travelling to several film festivals, including the South Asian International Film Festival that happened in New York last year.

"I am feeling sad, because the film is really close to my heart. I've never done something like this before and I wanted the audience to see it. It travelled to film festivals as well. So it's sad, but not sadder than what the world is facing right now," Zareen told PTI.

The actor said the producers will take a call whether to wait for a theatrical release or head to OTT.

"The film was supposed to release in March but got stuck because of the lockdown. I'm sure the producers are going to take a decision which they feel is right for its release, whether we are going to be waiting for things to become normal and to give it a theatrical release or have an OTT release."

Zareen said she has other projects lined up to go on floors but now everything looks doubtful.

"There were a lot of projects lined up. I had to shoot some music videos, around March 26 and just before that the lockdown got announced. There was a Punjabi film which was supposed to start in June, there was one horror film scheduled for August. Everything is pushed now because of this lockdown. I don't know now when all of this will happen."

While the actor said it does bother her that the lockdown happened at a time when her projects could've come out, the bigger worry is the situation everyone is in.

"I can cash in on my work when things return to normalcy but the worry is about the situation returning to normalcy right now. That's what we are uncertain about. We don't know when we are going to get back to the normal we all were used to, the one without restrictions, fear and that's the worry on my mind," she added.