Adil Hussain on resuming work with Bell Bottom: It was a very mixed feeling to go out and shoot

Actor Adil Hussain pens down his entire experience of going abroad and shooting for Bell Bottom, which sees him star alongside Akshay Kumar.

I have been working in films for the last 10 years. To shoot Bell Bottom, I was able to get out of the confines of my apartment, but at the same time, I felt sad to leave behind my son, Kabir, who’s all of 10, and my wife Kristen, having sort of built a stronger bond with him. It was a very mixed feeling. For five months, I had been at home, cooking and baking for him, dancing and playing music. At the same time, to be able to work again, in every sense of the word, was a great thing. One is practising what one loves a lot. But the apprehension was there in terms of travel, and what it would be like once we go to Scotland. I had also heard that 15 days of quarantine is a must. We had already gotten used to it, those who live with a family, but quarantine in a hotel room is very different.

Actor Adil Hussain writes exclusively for us about resuming work with Bell Bottom in the Covid 19 times.

I reached from Delhi to Mumbai to catch our charter flight, and spent the night in a hotel. The hotels were just opening up then, and all the restrictions made it feel a bit strange. Once we arrived at the airport, everything was smooth. We all had got our Covid tests done 48 hours in advance, organised by the production. Us 150 crew members boarded a flight, wearing our masks and shields. We played housie in the plane, keeping social distancing absolutely intact, and food was given in packets, there was no luxury there.

The implementation there at the shoot by Scottish authorities was well managed, and in time. We had a great chef, who lives there in Glasgow, and had fun shooting. I have worked with Akshay Kumar in Good Newwz already before, Huma (Qureshi) is a friend. Lara (Dutta Bhupathi) I had not met before ever, and Vaani (Kapoor) I hadn’t met before. Those not shooting though were required to stay at hotel, and they were not gallivanting on set. I finished early in 20 days, and didn’t have to wait to come back as flights had resumed. I had to undergo a test again 48 hours before coming back, and then I quarantined in Delhi after landing, for 15 days.

I absolutely feel that we should resume working. See, some people, those who are well paid like actors and directors, DOPs… a lot of people imagine that we are paid huge amounts of money, but very few people get that. There are people who are daily earners, light boys, crew, I think it is extremely important for the industry to function and resume their work, if not for anything else then at least for survival, and doing some work which they love to do. It’s gratifying, for our mental and emotional health is very important.

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