Coronavirus update: Final leg of shooting of Mumbai Saga to resume in Mumbai

Sanjay Gupta's next Mumbai Saga, which is in its final leg, will finish filming in Mumbai. The director had planned to finish the shoot in Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad, along with a hand-picked crew of 30, including lead actors John Abraham and Emraan Hashmi.

As coronavirus cases rise across the country, including in Telangana, Gupta has called off the external shoot plans after consulting with the film’s main cast and co-producer Bhushan Kumar. 

He said, "The country recorded 30,000 cases in a single day. Moreover, the World Health Organisation's statement about the possibility of the virus being airborne was alarming. It stated that the virus can remain in the air in crowded closed spaces. Of the 14-day shoot that I had planned, we were to film at three indoor sets for 10 days. That would have posed a risk. We wanted to shoot in Hyderabad, but now it's as unsafe as Mumbai. So, we might as well do it in our city."

The Hyderabad shoot was set to begin by 15 August, but the Mumbai shoot could be delayed as well.

"John, Emraan and the rest of us were kicked about shooting, but we can't do so by putting everyone's health at risk. John was to finish the pending work on Mumbai Saga before moving on to his next. But with cases on the rise, we decided it would be best to take stock of the situation after a month. We will try to procure permission to shoot from August 15, and are eyeing three studios, Mehboob, Essel and Film City. The dates are tentative," Gupta added.

Mumbai Saga is a period film, set in the 1980s, which charts the city’s evolvement from Bombay to Mumbai.

The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Sangiita Ahir and Anuradha Gupta.