Indian studio Yash Raj Films’ “Bunty Aur Babli 2,” starring Saif Ali Khan (“Sacred Games”) and Rani Mukerji (“Hichki”) has wrapped production with the shooting of a song and dance routine.
The shoot, at Mumbai’s Yash Raj Films studios, adhered to the Indian government’s recently announced safety protocols that allow movies to restart production in the COVID-19 era.
The film was essentially complete, save the song, by March, when the spread of coronavirus halted production across the country.
“We shot this sequence in the pandemic and we were made to feel extremely comfortable on the sets because YRF took all the necessary precautions before the shoot commenced,” said Mukerji.
“These are highly sensitive times and actors, producers, crew, everyone will have to be extra cautious because there is a risk element,” Khan said. “I was amazed by the steps taken to ensure that we have the best shooting experience. It felt safer than at home.”
The film is directed by debutant Varun V. Sharma, who previously served as chief assistant director on YRF’s “Tiger Zinda Hai,” starring Salman Khan. “I’m thankful that it all went well because this will give confidence to the entire film industry to return to shoot,” said Sharma. The film is produced by YRF chairman and managing director Aditya Chopra.
The film is a sequel to 2005’s “Bunty Aur Babli” where Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan played a pair of con-job perpetrators, Bunty and Babli, with cop Amitabh Bachchan in close pursuit. This time around Khan and Mukerji play the titular pair who must come out of retirement after a wave of robberies with their trademark signature appear across India.
The con artist impersonators are played by Siddhant Chaturvedi who made a mark in Berlin title “Gully Boy” and Sharvari Wagh who made her streaming debut with Amazon Prime Video series “The Forgotten Army: Azaadi ke liye” and will make her film debut with “Bunty Aur Babli 2.”
“We had such a fun shooting experience before the pandemic and then we couldn’t shoot or meet each other,” said Chaturvedi.” “I’m glad that we could have a safe, fun shoot.”
“As luck would have it, we had to wrap by shooting a fun song sequence and there was no better way to meet the entire team again and bring the house down with a lot of positivity, joy, and madness,” said Wagh.
