MONEY AND POWER, NOTHING WORKED'

‘There’s no point making grand plans all our lives when life itself is so fragile.’

Madhur Bhandarkar’s India Lockdown, which had its premiere at IFFI in Goa a couple of days ago, looks at the lives of Indians affected by the lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. Delta wave and took away a lot of our near and dear ones, that it struck me that

“It was during the second lockdown, which came in the wake of the me that even privileged people like us turned small, insignificant and vulnerable in the face of this deadly disease,”

Was India Lockdown shot during the lockdown?

No. It was shot last year, in February March 2021, when we were taking baby steps towards normalcy.

It was shot in the tiny window that had opened for us, just before the deadly second wave struck.

Shootings had started with limited units working in a bubble and adhering to all the SOPS.

We meticulously followed the protocol laid down by both the central and state governments.

Masks were in place and there was daily testing.

It must have been tough. 

Very, because the film is shot in four zones.

While Aahana Kumra and Prakash Belawadi’s track unfolded in apartments, Shweta Basu Prasad’s took place in a semi-studio in Mira Road (a township north of Mumbai).

With Sai Tamhankar and Prateik Babbar, we filmed in a slum in Ghatkopar (north east Mumbai), where migrant workers lived in shanties.

It was easier when one was shooting in a closed, controlled, environment, but we also had some outdoors, when we joined real crowds on the roads.

We also filmed in a truck crammed with 80-90 people.