Who's afraid of SARS? Certainly not Bollywood stars who are busy flying off to all parts of the world even as the killer pneumonia rages.
Last month Amitabh Bachchan went to Vancouver for two weeks to shoot for Vikram Bhatt's "Aitbaar". From there he took off for Johannesburg for the International Indian Film Awards.
When asked about catching SARS, Bachchan shrugged: "If someone sneezes I'll run the other way!"
Bhatt said from Vancouver: "I'm here with Bachchan and John Abraham. There's absolutely no fear of SARS. Life doesn't come to a standstill just because there's a bug in the air!"
While performers from Hollywood and the Western pop world are exercising tremendous caution, most Bollywood stars seem to be oblivious to the danger of SARS that has claimed over 400 lives worldwide.
Now Akshay Kumar, Sushmita Sen and Kareena Kapoor are going off to Canada, one of worst-SARS affected places, for Boney Kapoor-Dharamesh Darshan's "Bewafaa".
"There are two really rocking songs that we'll be shooting there, and then the first half of the film will be over," says Kareena.
And what about SARS? Kareena sighs: "We've always been taught that work comes first. I can't allow such an important schedule to be disrupted for any reason, no matter how much it means to me."
{{/usCountry}}And what about SARS? Kareena sighs: "We've always been taught that work comes first. I can't allow such an important schedule to be disrupted for any reason, no matter how much it means to me."
{{/usCountry}}Before going there, though, Kareena left for Amsterdam for a concert with Fardeen Khan, Arjun Rampal and Malaika Arora organized by the Moranis.
Urmila Matondkar's concert in Tokyo last week got cancelled at the last minute. "Some people in the troupe begged off because of SARS. But I personally have no qualms about going anywhere," said Urmila.
Several Bollywood units are planning long schedules outside India. Suneel Darshan seems to be a bit of an exception. He loves to shoot in Malaysia but as the country is badly affected by SARS, he wouldn't like to go there.
"Otherwise there's no fear of going to any part of the world. In fact I've just visited London with Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra, the stars of my new film 'Andaz'," he said.
"And we all forgot there was a virus in the air, not to mention the blockade against new releases in Mumbai."