Subhash K Jha (DNA; October 26, 2017)

In 2017, Bollywood faces one of its worst economic crisis ever, what with films falling like ninepins. Facing recession, the makers of the lavish space drama Chandamama Door Ke have decided to move from the United States of America to the United Kingdom, a decision that almost brought the project to a screeching halt even before shooting started.

REACHING A COMPROMISE
Says a source, “Sushant Singh Rajput, who plays an astronaut, was keen to shoot the film at NASA and other parts of the US. In fact, director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan had written the script keeping NASA in mind. Sushant went to NASA in October to train for his role at his own expense. After all this pre-shooting preparation when the makers indicated they might pull the plug, Sushant and Chauhan were livid. They wanted to close down the film rather than compromise on the location.” But now a compromise has apparently been worked out.

The film’s director and leading man have conceded to the relocation, apparently, on the condition that London/England be identified in the film as ‘America’. While pounds may be more expensive than dollars, the film costs will be controlled due to subsidies that are granted to film productions.

IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE
Earlier too, Kabir Khan shot New York in Philadelphia, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali passed off Prague in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam as Italy. Coming back to the shift in location for Chandamama Door Ke, a source says, “Sushant and his director have accepted the relocation as a symptom of the current recession in Bollywood. With Sushant’s recent films not doing well, the producers had no choice but to scale down the budget. They could either shut down the project or move to a budget-friendly location.”