The heat wave is wreaking havoc on the people of Tamil Nadu and Andhra, and it is no different for film stars. With the mercury soaring to alarming levels over the past few weeks, several films’ shoots starting from SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali — The Conclusion were either cancelled or postponed.
With temperatures touching 45 degrees in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Rajamouli and crew had to call off the schedule. Shooting is expected to resume after a month, once the intensity of summer subsides. Huge and expensive sets were erected for this schedule, but shooting under the high power HMI lights, which generate a lot of heat of their own, is impossible in this period film in which hundreds of junior artistes and technicians along with the stars take part in every scene. Baahubali 2 features Prabhas, Anushka, Tamannah, and Rana among others. The leading ladies also reported that it was an ordeal to work wearing heavily bejewelled costumes and makeup in the sweltering heat.
Vishal recently announced his next film Kaththi Sandai with director Suraj. It was to commence shooting last Friday, but was postponed. An official statement from the filmmakers says that the shooting was rescheduled due to scorching heat.
A few filmmakers have shifted location to cooler places, as in the case of the Vikram-Nayanthara-Nithya Menen film Iru Mugan. Despite the heat, the shoot was taking place at a brisk pace in a studio near Poonamallee.
On Sunday night, the unit of this Anand Shankar directed sci-fi thriller shifted to the much-cooler Kashmir for their next schedule.
For some movies like Karthi’s Kashmora, Prabhu Deva’s new film under Vijay’s direction and Venkat Prabhu’s sequel to Chennai 28, shooting is still on despite the severe summer. These units are avoiding the afternoon sun by shooting early in the morning and in the late evenings. Suriya’s sequel to the Singam series, SIII, directed by Hari is in the final schedule. Reportedly, they need to wrap it up in a week’s time. The movie, being a cop story involving a lot of action, has canned many scenes on roads and outdoor locales under the hot sun, explains production assistant Raja. “We somehow managed a long schedule in Vizag. Now, we have shifted to Nellore and shooting only during the nighttime,” he adds.
