Salman Khan, who was to travel with a large crew to Azerbaijan to shoot for his upcoming film Radhe for a week, has cancelled the schedule due to the ongoing coronavirus scare.
“The coronavirus scare is going to affect a lot more film schedules now, and this is just the beginning. There are many film shoots that were to happen in foreign countries in the coming few days because the filmmakers wanted to go to Europe during the summer, that has set in India rather early. But the situation is not really conducive for people to travel now and one cannot endanger many lives,” says an insider. Radhe will now be shot in India instead for a week.
However, it is not just the shooting schedules that are getting affected. Many theatres in various European, as well as Asian countries, are already shut due to the spread of the virus worldwide. The situation is not alarming in India at the moment, but the film trade is on its toes.
“The Daniel Craig starrer James Bond film No Time to Die was to release in India as well in April, but had to postpone the release to the end of the year, even though we had blocked theatres for them. We are also seeing how the situation pans out in India,” says a senior distributor.
“China has become a huge market for Bollywood films and all those films that are slated to release in China have been put on hold because of the situation,” says another trade source.
—Sanskriti Media
