After wrapping up the shoot of Bachchan Pandey, actor Akshay Kumar is all set to start filming for his next, Ram Setu. The actor, along with director Abhishek Sharma and creative producer Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi, will fly to Ayodhya on March 18 to give the mahurat shot of the film from Ram Janmabhoomi.
Akshay is currently on a family vacation in the Maldives and will dive back to work as soon as gets back. Speaking about the shooting of the film, the film’s director, Abhishek, tells that the shoot is spread across multiple schedules over the next few months and 80% of the film will be shot in Mumbai.
Sharma also reveals that Akshay will be seen in a new avatar in the film:
Akshay sir plays an archaeologist and his look and character is inspired by several Indian and international professional archaeologists who work in the field. In terms of both look and character, Akshay sir’s fans are in for a totally new avatar of his.
When it comes to the leading ladies, we shared an exclusive that Jacqueline Fernandez is set to star opposite Akshay in the film. Nushrratt Bharuccha is also set to play the other female lead in the film. Speaking about the leading ladies, Abhishek shares that they both play strong, independent women with well-written parts and their looks are being kept under wraps for now.
Speaking about visiting Ayodhya, it was apparently producer Dwivedi who came up with the idea of starting the Ram Setu journey in Ayodhya. He felt that there is no better way to start Ram Setu’s journey than to kick-off the shoot at Lord Ram’s birth place.
Abhishek says that the idea for this film came about after he read an article in 2007 about “a court case related to a project to build a shipping canal in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka and the issues that the project was facing”.
He elaborates:
I found this to be an opportunity to explore the truth behind an Indian legend and was amazed at the magnitude of the subject. It’s like I was being presented with the possibility to bring forward a true story that would connect generations of Indians to a part of our heritage that was not getting the attention it deserved.
He shares that he locked the screenplay during the lockdown last year and pitched the first draft to Akshay Kumar, who immediately came on-board. Abhishek adds that producer Dwivedi helped them immensely by building a team of researchers with backgrounds in archaeology, history, religion and science, in equal measure. This, he says, helped them script the film based on a true story which is supported by facts.
Akshay released the poster of the film last Diwali and is finally going to begin work now following all safety protocols issued by the government. The actor adds that, “Ram Setu is a bridge between generations past, present and future.”
The producer, Vikram Malhotra says that AKahaygiven Akshay and the production house, Abundantia Entertainment, have filmed successfully previously amidst the pandemic, he says there is enough learning and experience to manage the production of this film efficiently and safely.
I am excited to see Akshay and the rest of the cast in this film very soon, what about you guys?