Less projects will go on floors post lockdown, says Jackky Bhagnani

Mumbai: Actor-producer Jackky Bhagnani forbodes that in the post-coronavirus film industry, it might take more time for movies to be greenlit.

Talking both from the perspective of a producer and actor, Jackky said there will be some changes that will happen once the countrywide lockdown is lifted.

"As an actor, I see that there will be a lesser number of projects that will go on the floors. Most investors and producers will take their time to green-light projects.

"As a producer, there might be some pragmatic decisions to be taken on which projects to do first and how to minimise costs without affecting the scale or demands of the script," he told PTI.

Jackky's production banner, Pooja Entertatinment's two films -- Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan-starrer "Coolie No 1" and Akshay Kumar's "Bell Bottom" -- were affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

When asked about the plans for "Coolie No 1", which was expected to release countrywide on May 1, Jackky said, "I think it's insensitive to think of a release date right now. Let us overcome this crisis and we will announce it in happier times. No decision taken as of now."

The film, directed by David Dhawan, is a remake of the 1995 film of the same name.

Akshay's "Bell-Bottom" is an espionage thriller, to be directed by Ranjit M Tewari. The film was scheduled to go on floors by mid this year with a release date in January 2021.

"We already have a plan. But we will have to wait for the lockdown to be completely over and for the government to give a go ahead to be in a position to give more details," Jackky said.

He added that just like every other sector of the economy, the film industry also finds itself on pause.

"It is difficult to gauge the impact in numbers right now. But it has definitely hit release dates, film shoots and future planning for every member of the industry," the actor-producer said.

Jackky further said that as a producer, he will be undertaking precautionary measures on the sets of his upcoming projects.

"The first key words are safety and precaution. The one important lesson from this pandemic is human life and health are top priority. All the upcoming shoots will have the highest and stringent measures of sanitisation and hygiene as per the government guidelines," he said.

"We are also mulling closed sets and studios for shooting so as to minimise touch points and allow only a certain number of people on set," he added.

PTI