Akshay’s 'Bellbottom' first in the world to start and finish shoot in pandemic

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much – this maxim perhaps best describes the journey of upcoming film Bellbottom, as it completed its start-to-finish schedule in the pandemic, the first film in the world to do so.

"It's teamwork and I am grateful to each and every member of the cast and crew, from the spot dadas to the light dadas to the technicians to the make-up dadas to my lovely heroines Vaani (Kapoor), Lara (Dutta), Huma (Qureshi), my director Ranjit (Tewari) and to Vashuji (Bhagnani) and the production team who believed in our audacious plan. The new normal has made us realise a different way of working that none of us could have imagined. I hope our shoot during the pandemic reassures others that keeping all safety in mind, it's time to get things moving again," says actor Akshay Kumar.

Bellbottom's tryst with a challenging scenario required out-of-the-box thinking and meticulous planning. "It would have never been possible without the confidence and commitment of the crew that wanted to get back to work. Each and every member of the team showed unbelievable support. A big thank you to Akshay Kumar for agreeing to do this. The successful completion of Bellbottom in record time is testimony to the resilience of the Hindi film industry," says veteran producer Vashu Bhagnani.

For Pooja Entertainment, it was a challenge. For the producers, it meant managing a stringent health protocol for a 200-plus Indian contingent and a 24×7 production crew.

"We are immensely grateful to the entire unit for trusting us to keep them safe. We feel blessed that we had the right energy on the sets at all times which is the reason why everything came together so beautifully," adds producer Jackky Bhagnani.

Pooja Entertainment presents in association with Emmay Entertainment Bellbottom. Produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani and Nikkhil Advani. Bellbottom written by Aseem Arrora & Parveez Shaikh is set to release on April 2, 2021.