Heavy rains in Mumbai have disrupted many shooting schedules, and several actors living in low-lying areas experienced flooding of their homes.
The worst affected was Ajay Devgan, whose house was submerged in four feet of water, and his neighbour Sunny Deol, whose house was also water-logged. Both actors live in the posh Juhu area. Luckily for the Deols, Sunny and father Dharmendra were away in Bangkok shooting for their latest film Apne, helmed by director Anil Sharma.
Terrible Tuesday: Mumbai copes with a calamity
The actors had already moved their cars to different locations as they had experienced flooding in the tremendous downpour of 26/7 last year. Many of their cars were damaged after being submerged in the rainwater.
Shah Rukh Khan too was affected by the rains, as he couldn't make it to the Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna sets for a shoot. Khan was slated to record a song sequence for the film with Rani Mukerji and Kajol, but the actor could not make it from his home in Bandra to Andheri, where Yashraj Studios are located, because of water-logging on the roads.
Eventually director Karan Johar decided to cancel the shoot. With the film due to release on August 11, the director is steadily running out of time.
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It was the same story for films like Baabul, featuring Salman Khan, as most technicians and artists could not reach the sets on time, leading to cancellation of several shots. Most film studios across Mumbai had to cancel or postpone their shooting schedule because artists could not reach on time on account of the rains.
Speaking to rediff.com, Jay Prakash Mishra, assistant manager, Filmistan studio, said, "There were three shooting schedules to be held in our studio. One, a film by Venus, then there was a television serial for Sahara, and then an ad film, but all three were cancelled because the people could not reach due to heavy rains."
The situation was worse for television serials since many of the actors and technicians could not make it to the studios, resulting in cancellation of studio bookings from different media houses.
Film City, the shooting hub of the Hindi film industry, also saw many outdoor shootings cancelled.
"The outdoor shootings have been affected because of rains. There is no way one can take a shot in this heavy rain and so some people have postponed their schedules," said O S Saini, a spokesperson for Film City.
Understandably, theatres too are running empty, with entertainment being the last thing on people's minds.
Trade analysts believe that even big hits like Phir Hera Pheri, Fanaa and Krrish could suffer because of the heavy rains.
"People are keeping indoors because of rains, and I feel that some films can suffer some losses in Mumbai city because of low occupancy," said trade analyst Vinod Mirani.
