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Last month, shoots of many TV shows resumed for the first time since March-end. Now, Bollywood filmmakers are also gearing up to get back to work. And among them is Sanjay Gupta, who will soon hit the floors to complete work on his next, Mumbai Saga. While many are concerned over how they will meet all safety guidelines specified by the government, especially those stipulating smaller crews for shoots, Gupta isn’t worried at all.
“I am sure I ctors Hrithik Roshan and Alia Bhatt have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and will have voting rights for this year’s Oscar’s awards if they accept. Documentary filmmakers Nishtha Jain and Amit Madheshiya, designer Neeta Lulla, casting director Nandini Shrikent, visual wouldn’t have any issues.
Over the last eight to 10 years, we have seen the number of crew members on the sets go up considerably. Often we don’t need so many people on the sets. Nowadays, when I walk into my set, the sheer size of crew amazes me. I have been making films for over 25 years now, but I fail to understand the logic behind having so many people [on sets],” says the filmmaker, who started his directorial career with Aatish: Feel The Fire (1994).
In fact, Gupta recalls how things weren’t the same even till late 2000s. “I remember effects supervisors Vishal Anand and Sandeep Kamal have also been invited, among 819 people. The official website claimed the 2020 class is “45% women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities...from 68 countries.”
Joining the bandwagon of celebs, who are voicing their opinion on nepotism and favouritism in showbiz, is Tamannaah Bhatia, who calls herself an outsider and says, “Coming from Mumbai, when I started doing Tamil and Telugu films, I neither knew the languages nor did I know anyone in the industry.”
And though the actor, 30, feels that nepotism is there in every field, she says it “cannot determine your success or failure”. “My family has a lot of doctors, and if I had taken up the profession, they would have guided me. Tomorrow, if my child wants to become an actor, I would do the same. That’s how it works… (But) there are so many actors who made it big without a film background. Look at Shah Rukh Khan. He’s a legend… In the present generation, actors like Ayushmann Khurrana and Kartik Aaryan have also made it on their own.”
Sharing how struggle shaped her as an individual and a performer, she says, “When my Hindi films didn’t work, I got a film like Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) that changed things for me. Along with talent and hard work, one needs to have the temperament right for longevity. So, I did take a few chances in my career, whether they worked or not, wasn’t in my hands. But I’m happy.”
With some Tamil and Telugu films and web projects in her kitty, Bhatia is raring to get back to work. But she feels film shoots will only begin by the year end as “films need more people in the background, unlike TV or web”.