With Akshay Kumar having shot Bellbottom in a start-to-finish schedule in the UK, filmmakers back home are emboldened to kick off new projects. Director Abhishek Kapoor assembled his team in Chandigarh on Wednesday, ready to set the ball rolling on his yet-untitled venture with Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor. With this, Khurrana — who spent the lockdown in hometown Chandigarh — will return to a film set after seven months. "We will start our first schedule this weekend. It's been such a difficult time for everyone. Now, we are all itching to step out and have our creative juices flowing," begins producer Pragya Kapoor.

Though the initial plan was to conduct a month-long shoot in the north Indian city, the makers have now decided to play it by ear. "It's not easy to have a locked plan during such uncertain times. Our aim is to take one day at a time and make sure everyone is safe while achieving the creative vision," she reasons. Pragya shares that the team conducted a chunk of the pre-production virtually over the past three months, following which Abhishek hand-picked a skeletal crew for the first schedule. "We have had the entire team tested at every stage, put a stringent SOP [standard operating procedure] in place and are functioning with a lean crew."

To do justice to his part of a cross-functional athlete, Khurrana had begun his physical prep with trainer Rakesh Udiyar since September. Acknowledging that actors are the most vulnerable on the set as they can't wear masks when delivering their shots, Pragya says the director-producer duo had a chat with the lead actors before charting out the schedule. "Ayushmann and Vaani were supportive. They have put their trust in us, and we are taking every precautionary measure to keep the ship safe."