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For how long can you stay at home? Asks Nikkhil Advani
The Kal Ho Naa Ho maker, who has been working on multiple new film and web projects, says there is a ‘need to kickstart life again’ amid the pandemic/lockdown
Since March-end, Bollywood hasn’t been in the full-on work mode, due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. However, that hasn’t stopped a few filmmakers/actors from working actively for some time now, and one of them happens to be Nikkhil Advani. The filmmaker has been constantly busy with multiple film as well as web productions, besides his own next directorial venture.
“For how long can you sit at home and wait for things to become ‘normal’ like it used to be?’ he says, adding that everyone needs to “step out and start out again” at some point. While one of his co-productions, Bellbottom, starring Akshay Kumar, has gone on floors in the UK, John Abraham-starrer Satyameva Jayate 2 is readying to hit the floors.
Advani’s office, too, has been functional “with permitted number of staff members” for several weeks now, from where his team is working on various projects. “I myself am out everyday, for meetings and other things even if I am not in office. We have to find a way out of all of this. The post-production work, including editing, is on vis-a-vis Arjun Kapoor-Rakul Preet Singh starrer. Plus, we are also working on a few web shows including one on the Mughals,” he says.
Advani feels “people’s work (in general) has already suffered a lot.” “With all the social distancing measures etc., it’s high time that we all start functioning. If we ourselves don’t try to make things normal, how will they become normal?” says the filmmaker, adding that the idea should be to “endeavor for a sense of normalcy.”
“We are also working a lot through video calls etc. but wherever required, we need to step out. There’s a need to kickstart life at some point. My office has been open and my team is working smoothly out of there. In fact, Milap (Milan Zaveri; director of Satyameva Jayate series) has done the entire pre-production work on the sequel from office itself,” says Advani.
