The actress joins Saif Ali Khan and R Madhavan near Desuri village where they are filming Navdeep Singh’s historical

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 23, 2018)

Mirror had recently reported (January 23) that Saif Ali Khan and R Madhavan will be reuniting for a historical, 17 years after they teamed up for Gautham Menon’s romantic-drama Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein in 2001. Zoya Hussain who made her debut in Anurag Kashyap’s sports drama Mukkabaaz plays the leading lady. Now, Mirror has learnt that the Aanand L Rai production, being directed by NH10 director Navdeep Singh, has a new addition to the cast. Sonakshi Sinha has now been roped in and has already begun filming in Rajasthan where a major portion the film will be shot.

A source close to the development says, “Sonakshi will be playing an interesting cameo in the yet untitled film. She is the surprise element which is why the makers are keeping her part and look tightly under wraps for now.”

The actress plays the lead in another Aanand L Rai production, Happy Phirr Bhag Jaayegi, where she joins Diana Penty, who featured in the original, and Punjabi actor Jassi Gill who is making his Hindi debut with the romcom. The first part of the franchise with Ali Fazal, Abhay Deol, Diana and Jimmy Shergill released in August 2016.

The source informs that Saif, along with other actors, was in Rajasthan last week to kick off the shoot. “It is being shot near Desuri village presently and will move to other parts of the state. Deepak Dobriyal will also be joining the cast in an important role. This will be followed by long schedules in Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh in the coming months,” adds the source, reminding that Sonakshi and Saif had earlier teamed up for Tigmanshu Dhulia’s 2013 action drama Bullett Raja.

Saif and Madhavan have trained in sword-fighting and horse-riding as part of their prep for the period drama. They will require a lot of prosthetics and the team has been working on heir look for a long time. Navdeep was earlier supposed to direct Kaneda, a gangster drama for Anushka Sharma’s production house, featuring the actress, Arjun Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh. After several delays, he opted out of that project to concentrate on this film.

Shooting and media interactions cancelled, disrupted as protestors wreak havoc during the bandh on Wednesday

Natasha Coutinho and Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 4, 2018)

Sidharth Malhotra and Rakul Preet Singh were to rehearse for a promotional track in Neeraj Pandey’s upcoming Republic Day release Aiyaary at Feroz Khan’s suburban studio on Wednesday but the plan was cancelled at the last minute owing to unrest in the city. “The shoot was scheduled for January 4 at a Panvel college with approximately 5,000 students in attendance but has now been pushed to January 8,” informs a source close to the film in which Rakul plays an IT professional while Sid is an army officer.

Director Anurag Kashyap, producer Aanand L Rai and the Mukkabaaz cast of Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain and Jimmy Sheirgill also had plans to assemble in Andheri for promotions on Wednesday but it was cancelled as well.

Schedules of TV shows, Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain, Ishqbaaz, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Haasil and Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki were also stalled due to the agitation. “We had a 9 am shift at Film City in Goregaon and some of the crew had arrived. But by the time the actors were to come in, the protests were nearing the studio with demonstrators stopping them from entering the location, so we asked everyone to go home. We have postponed the shoot by a day,” Yeh Rishta… producer Rajan Shahi told Mirror.

Shubhangi Atre, who plays the titular role in Bhabhiji…, said that shooting for her show was disrupted by rioters. “We were shooting master scenes when protestors landed on our Naigaon sets and demanded a shutdown,” she informed. Meanwhile, Pranitaa Pandit of Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki revealed that their shoot, at Killick Nixon studio in Andheri East, was also halted by miscreants. “A few hours into the shoot, we were mobbed by a gang of unruly men who forced their way into the premises. We rushed to the vanity vans and were holed up for hours even as they continued to damage everything in sight including vehicles and shooting props.”

Star Plus’s top-rated show Ishqbaaz suffered a similar fate. “We had a rather challenging day with telecast deadlines looming above. One of the schedules was canned due to growing unrest in Malvani but some of us continued to work in Madh Island,” show lead Nakuul Mehta shared.

Nikita Dutta of Sony’s Haasil had to return home even before making it to the sets. “We had an 11 am shift in Kanjurmarg and I live in Bandra. I was stuck on the highway for an hour. Then, I was informed that the shoot has been called off because nobody could reached the sets. It took me four hours to get off the highway and return home,” she added.

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Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; January 4, 2018)

Mumbai was on the edge yesterday due to a bandh called by some political groups and protesters causing disruptions by pelting stones and shutting shops at various places. Consequently, the shoot of several serials was affected across the city — while some were cancelled, others like Piya Albela shifted their timings. Serials that cancelled their shoots include Haasil, Ikyawann, Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki, Ishqbaaz, Meri Hanikarak Biwi, Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai, Vani Rani  and Kundali Bhagya, among others. While some actors who managed to reach the sets early in the morning shot for their serials unhindered, others despite being on the sets had to call for a pack-up as mobs barged inside the studios and forced them to shut down!

Sanjay Kapoor, who plays the lead role in Dil Sambhal Jaa Zara, reached the sets at Kanjurmarg at 8 am and shot for an episode. “It was fine in the morning, but later everything shut. So, even though I reached the set, my lunch from home got stuck. Even the food that’s served on the sets was unavailable, so we had to shoot without food. But the show must go on,” he says.  However, for those who were shooting in Killick Nixon in Sakinaka it was nothing short of a nightmare! Ssharad

Ssharad Malhotra who is seen in Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki had reached the sets in the morning and was putting on his make-up when there was disruption. “I heard a lot of commotion, there was a mob of around 200-300 people outside the studio gates demanding we shut down the shoot. So, the producer called for a pack-up, but still the situation was frightening. They were pelting stones at cars and I saw buses burning,” he recounts clearly shaken up.

For Manit Joura, who was shooting for Kundali Bhagya, it was a scary experience. “I am facing this kind of a thing for the first time. When I reached the sets at 9 am, everything was fine. But, suddenly a mob barged onto the sets with lathis. The shoot was cancelled, but we were stuck as the mob was stopping vehicles and throwing stones and pieces of wood. We were advised to stay put and as a security measure the main door was chained. It was a very bad situation,” he says.

Pranav Misshra of Aisi Deewangi Dekhi Nahi Kahi also reached Future Studios in Jogeshwari only to have the shoot disrupted. “There was tod-phod outside the studio, and shops were forcibly shut down. There was a mob outside. It was saddening and I was worried about the situation. The government officials need to take strong measures to control these things,” he quips. Namish Taneja of Ikyawann was lucky. He was on his way to Film City for the shoot, when he got a call from the executive producer advising him to return home as protesters were not allowing anybody to enter the premises. “Thankfully I reached home safely,” he says relieved.

Nikita Dutta, who was travelling to Powai for the shoot of Haasil left home at 10 am and was stuck in traffic for four hours! She says, “I stay in Bandra but I couldn’t even reach the airport in one hour. I informed the producers  that I’ll be late. However, within half-an-hour I got a message saying the shoot is cancelled. But there was such a huge traffic jam that I couldn’t even take a U-turn. Also, mobs ghearaoed my car and weren’t letting me go, finally after going round and round, I reached home around 1.30 pm. I was scared because there was nobody with me.”

Her co-star Vatsal Sheth, on the other hand, was about to leave the house when he got the message that the entire unit is stuck at Hiranandani and shoot has been cancelled. Since his in-laws weren’t well he went with them to the hospital but got stuck in the traffic on the way back. “My house is just five minutes away, but I had to take a detour as the protesters were obstructing vehicles. I have nothing against protests, but they should be peaceful,” he shares.

Ishqbaaz producers canned one shoot at Malvani as there was unrest there but another unit continued to shoot at Madh Island. Nakuul Mehta who is part of the serial says, “The problem of closing down the shoot midway is the danger of travelling on roads for the rest of the unit. It’s challenging as we have deadlines and telecast to meet. Hoping Mumbai can find a peaceful end to this without any more damage,” he says.

Producer Sumeet Mittal whose two serials Dil Se Dil Tak and Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai were being shot at two different places was happy that the former’s shoot was not affected. “That was shot in an enclosed compound at Mira Road, so there was no problem. But Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai’s shoot is in Film City, which got affected. Since we have a bank of episodes for a couple of days, it’s not an issue,” he informs.

According to J D Majethia, head of the TV unit of the Indian Film & Television Producers Council (IFTPC), the areas where mobs had a strong presence, the shoot was affected, elsewhere it continued uninterrupted. “However, the TV industry is strong and all the telecast deadlines will be met,” he signs off. 

Actors (Clockwise from top left) Vatsal Sheth, Sanjay Kapoor, Ssharad Malhotra, Manit Joura, Nakuul Mehta, Pranav Misshra, Namish Taneja and Nikita Dutta