Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; June 20, 2020)

While several filmmakers are raring to begin shooting in the city, director Shujaat Saudagar will have to bide his time before he can return to the universe of Dongri To Dubai. After waiting all summer in the hope of the Coronavirus lockdown being lifted, the makers of the Avinash Tiwary-fronted crime thriller recently demolished the set depicting old Dongri, in Madh Island.

"We plan to shoot only after the monsoon. It's not a wise idea to reconstruct the set in the rains. Plus, we have to shoot major portions in live locations. Considering filming in real locations [is prohibited] for now, we decided that resuming work post the monsoon would be the best course of action," explains Saudagar of the series that is backed by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. Post September, the director promises he will dive headlong into the project. "We have about 60 days of shoot left. So, we are planning to film the pending portions in one go."

Over the past few weeks, some filmmakers and television producers have contemplated taking their pending projects to Hyderabad as the city's guidelines offer more flexibility. However, Saudagar dismisses the idea stating that the Netflix drama, that chronicles the rise of Dawood Ibrahim, is rooted in Mumbai. "Dongri to Dubai is a Mumbai-centric subject. So, I would like to shoot in the city. Also, taking the crew to Hyderabad is not practically possible. When making a movie, you can move around with the crew to different set-ups, but, making a show is a different ball game."