Nestled in his Khandala home, director Sanjay Gupta is working on the final schedule of Mumbai Saga that is scheduled to be shot in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, next month.
With filmmakers gradually planning and working towards resuming shoots in Mumbai, the director had at first considered giving final touches to the John Abraham and Emraan Hashmi-fronted crime thriller in the city. “But shooting here is way too risky. Public transport hasn’t opened up completely yet, so it’s impossible to bring the crew to the set daily. This is why T-Series and I have zeroed in on Ramoji Film City, which is a self-sufficient studio with lodging facilities. We will have our unit tested before flying down,” explains Gupta.
The filmmaker intends to charter a plane to Hyderabad, with a 30-member crew, including leading actors Abraham and Hashmi. “We have 10 to 12 days’ work left on the film, including shooting two songs and a portion of the climax.”
Gupta agrees that the songs as well as action sequences will have to be reimagined and reworked upon, given the restrictions on the use of background artistes. “Minimising is the way forward on the songs. Rajeev Surti, who is the choreographer, and I are reducing the number of people we can have in the frame and reworking the dance sequences. One of the songs is similar to Ganpat from Shootout at Lokhandwala, 2007. We have a patchwork shoot with John, Prateik Babbar and Gulshan Grover. Here as well, we will eliminate the background fighters and keep it focussed on the actors.”
When asked if the actors are comfortable in resuming shoots so soon, Gupta said, “Actors need to have faith in the director and the producer. We have assured them that we will look after them and take precautions. John and Emraan are looking forward to the shoot. We hope to start working on July 15.”