In the last few months, Delhi saw over 10 projects being shot and many big stars were flying in and out of NCR. Now, with the third wave of Coronavirus well on its way and a steep rise in cases, things have changed overnight. This month, a number of major films were supposed to be shot in Delhi, but now they are either on hold or planning to shift locations. Line producers in states like Punjab and Uttarakhand say that some projects have shifted there from Delhi and Mumbai and more might follow suit.

Not just Bollywood, film producers say that India has lost out on several international projects also in the last two years due to COVID.

Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Kartik Aaryan, Alia Bhatt and many other celebs have filmed in NCR in the last two-three months. This month, Salman Khan and Parineeti Chopra and others were expected to shoot in Delhi, but now the projects are on pause.

Line producer Ravi Sarin says, “Sooraj Barjatya’s Uunchai (starring Parineeti Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan) was expected to begin its Delhi schedule this month, as was Salman Khan’s Tiger 3, but both have been postponed. There was a big web series which was to be shot in Delhi, but due to night curfew, weekend curfew, and gathering limit, it has been relocated to Punjab.”

Sriram Raghvan’s upcoming film (titled Merry Christmas and starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi) was to start shooting in Delhi soon, as well as Action Hero (starring Ayushmann Khurrana); both have been rescheduled. Line producer Javed adds, “There were several web series and films scheduled for now and the impact of the third wave is visible. Currently in NCR, Noida has relatively less strict rules, but navigating around night curfew is an issue.”

Shoots in other parts of the country have been affected as well. Gynandera Singh, a line producer, who handles projects in Uttar Pradesh, says, “Currently in UP, only two-three projects are being shot in and around Lucknow. A couple of projects are scheduled for next month, however, it will depend upon restrictions.”

An industry source adds, “Shooting of several projects in Mumbai were recently halted because crew members tested positive.”

There were several projects scheduled to be shot in the northeast. Line producer James Handique says, “A Bollywood film was scheduled to shoot in Meghalaya and Assam in January-February, but it has been postponed. Another film from the south was expected to shoot in Arunachal Pradesh and action sequences were planned, but that has also been postponed.”

Nitin Pundir, a line producer who handles projects in Uttarakhand, says, “Currently, two web series are being filmed in Uttarakhand, one starring Himansh Kohli. We also got to know that several big projects are relocating to Uttarakhand. During the first wave, after film shoots in many places were cancelled, shoots shifted to Uttarakhand, and it is likely to happen this time also.”

Manish Walia, a line producer who handles film shoots in Chandigarh and the rest of Punjab, says, “As of now, there are no restrictions on film shoots in Chandigarh and the rest of Punjab. In fact, a big film director is currently shooting in Chandigarh. However, there is a lot of uncertainty. We got to know that some projects have relocated to Punjab from Delhi, Mumbai and more will follow, but things can change any minute. Diljeet Dosanjh will be shooting for his film in Amritsar in January end. Till now that project is still on.”

The pandemic has affected multiple foreign projects which were scheduled to be shot in India. Producer Dileep Singh Rathore says, “We did location scouting for Indiana Jones 5 and it was to be shot in Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. The film was to come to India at the end of 2020 and shoot till late 2021. However, it was halted due to the second wave and eventually, the location was moved to Morocco. It was a huge loss for those in India who were supposed to work on it.”

He adds that several other international projects are considering shooting in India, but the final outcome will depend on the Coronavirus situation.

Indian producers of foreign projects say that in countries like Italy, films were shot despite a high number of cases, but the same model can’t be replicated in India. Producer Pravesh Sahni says, “A seven-day mandatory home quarantine for all overseas travellers has been announced recently. Even earlier our quarantine rules were quite strict. If a foreign actor is coming to India for a shoot, they will not spend seven days in quarantine. Foreign crew members and actors are ready to get tested as many times as needed, but they don’t want to quarantine.”

Talking about projects that moved out of the country, he says, “A major project which couldn’t be shot in India was Shantaram. We created sets in Bhopal and the team was supposed to come to India in 2020. Now the series has shifted to Australia, and they made sets to show India. Dev Patel’s film, which was to be filmed in Mumbai, shifted to Indonesia and Shekhar Kapur’s What’s Love Got to Do With It, which was to be filmed in Delhi and Amritsar, has also relocated.”