Perfect Woman Magazine & Events

Akshay Kumar: With COVID, circumstances may have changed a bit for now…but both cinemas and OTT can and will co-exist

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Actor-producer Akshay Kumar was the first mainstream actor to step out and start shooting for Bell Bottom last year when the world was still uncertain about rebooting work. Since then, he has wrapped up films like Bachchan Pandey, Atrangi Re, Prithiviraj and has partially shot Ram Setu. After shooting Mission Cinderella in the UK, he was seen in Delhi shooting a few portions of Raksha Bandhan. He was seen on the streets of Chandni Chowk filming with director Aanand L Rai and his team. In a recent chat with Bombay Times, the actor, currently in Ooty to shoot Ram Setu with Jacqueline Fernandez, was asked how the pandemic had changed his style of working, and what has worked in his favour for him to have a long slate of films and a near-uninterrupted shooting spell for the last 20 months.

Akshay said, “I think the sooner you embrace the reality of living with COVID, the easier it is to get on with your life. And that’s what I did. We have policemen, doctors, essential service providers, who had no choice but to go about their work. I took a cue from them. The point is we have to get going. The sooner the better, but of course, keep taking all safety measures.”

As an actor-producer, Akshay has begun to collaborate with OTT platforms from the word go. For instance, his next film Ram Setu is being co-produced by a leading platform. Does he feel that OTT is the future of cinema exhibition? Akshay says, “Actually, in this case, OTT is collaborating with us as they are stepping into film production and the plan for Ram Setu is very much for a theatrical release. That is what we are planning and hoping for. As for the future of cinema exhibition, I think films are made to be showcased to the audience, one way or another. With COVID, circumstances may have changed a bit for now. Eventually, one has to go with the most feasible avenue at that time, but both can and will co-exist.”

Ram Setu was a film that commenced earlier this year, but its shooting had to be stopped because of COVID 19’s second wave. Akshay, since then, had swiftly moved on to other projects and is now shooting for the Abhishek Sharma film, co-starring Jacqueline and Nushrratt Bharuccha. “Unfortunately, Ram Setu’s schedule couldn’t go as planned,” he says, adding, “We had shot for about a week before I tested positive for COVID-19. But all plans are in place now to bring it back on track. We have a start-to-finish schedule of Ram Setu. As for OMG 2, the filming has already begun in September with the other cast members, and I will be joining them after finishing Ram Setu and that, too, will be a start-to-finish schedule.”

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