Safety more important, says Priyanshu Painyuli on Rashmi Rocket shoot delay

Ahead of the release of his first international film, Extraction, actor Priyanshu Painyuli landed a key role in Rashmi Rocket (2020) opposite Taapsee Pannu. Painyuli plays Pannu’s husband, an army officer, in the film directed by Akarsh Khurana.

However, soon after his casting was announced, the nationwide lockdown was imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The production which was already underway, with Painyuli due to join Pannu on the shoot, was stalled indefinitely.

“Yes, we had already started the prep and had started training for it,” the actor confirmed in a telephonic conversation with Cinestaan.com. “My look test, costume trial, all this was planned out. Taapsee, she was shooting in Haridwar [in Uttarakhan] for the film, and she had already started training to be an athlete,” he added.

“I play an army guy so I had to physically look like [one],” he continued. “We were planning to shoot the film in March, April and May, so that it could be out, probably this year in November. The idea was that. Obviously, we were all taken by surprise by [the pandemic].”

Painyuli is hoping once the lockdown is over and safety guidelines are introduced, shooting can begin again. “That is more important, the safety is more important,” he stressed.

Rashmi Rocket, written by Aniruddha Guha, was due to be released later this year. But now it will depend on when the shooting for the film resumes after the lockdown is over.