A triple lockdown whammy for Boney!

It’s not really a secret that the lockdown has dealt a major blow to filmmakers, and showbiz in general. Boney Kapoor, too, is no different. In fact, the producer has three films that are stuck in various stages of production — Ajay Devgn-starrer Maidaan, a Telugu film titled Vakeel Saab featuring Pawan Kalyan (the remake of Shoojit Sircar’s Pink; 2016) and Ajith-starrer Tamil actioner, Valimai.

While Vakeel Saab is 10-15 shoot days away from completion, Valimai is nearly 50% complete. On the other hand, around a month-long shoot is still left for Maidaan’s completion. In fact, a few days back, Kapoor and his partners took a call to dismantle the massive set of the film spread over 16 acres before “monsoons arrive in Mumbai”. Now, the “massive set” will be rebuilt in September, and Kapoor is hopeful that the shoot can commence around November.

“It goes without saying that it has resulted in a huge loss for the team. Thankfully, however, we had already shot all the indoor and also some outdoor portions of the film [in Lucknow and Kolkata]. But now, we will have to wait for the set to come up again to shoot the Olympic games of Helsinki, Rome, Melbourne and Jakarta Asian Games,” says Kapoor.

Not just Maidaan, the Wanted (2009) maker was cruising along with the shoot of his Telugu film, Vakeel Saab along with Valimai when the shutdown came into force. “In all likelihood, we would have completed the films by now had there been no lockdown. But what can you do in such an extraordinary situation? Now, we hope to finish work on all the films at the earliest, whenever work restarts. Sometimes, I feel I must be the only producer, who has three big films –— from different film industries of the country — stuck at various stages,” says Kapoor with a smile.