Creator Rangita Pritish Nandy, who kicked off the shoot of the third season of Four More Shots Please last weekend after a year-long wait, believes her emotional state can be captured in three words: “We feel alive”. The all-women drama, headlined by Kirti Kulhari, Sayani Gupta, Maanvi Gagroo and Bani J, is being shot in South Mumbai. “After the year we’ve all had, being on set, exchanging ideas, discussing characters, and even squabbling over costumes — it all feels like coming home,” says Nandy.

The creator finds herself leading a 100-plus crew at a time when the impact of the second wave can be strongly felt as Maharashtra recorded its highest number of Coronavirus cases in a day since March 2020. Undeterred, Nandy says they are being cautious and following guidelines to the T. “Our protocols are driven by the government’s prescribed norms and Amazon’s exhaustive list of SOPs [standard operating procedures]. We’re testing [daily], masking up, using the private mode of travel, and not sharing food or liquids. We’re living in a bio-bubble — all this, while we keep a close watch on the changing situation to devise new precautions.”

The team is sticking to the original plan despite the adverse conditions. “We will shoot in Mumbai till May-end. We have another Indian city and an overseas location on the cards.”

The benchmark is set high for the third season. After all, the first edition bagged an International Emmy nomination and the second instalment became Amazon Prime India’s most-watched Indian original of 2020. “We wrote and prepped for season 3 before any of this happened. So, we don’t feel any pressure. But we have a duty to all the fans; we want to deliver a bigger and stronger season for them.”