Cyclone Tauktae impacts entertainment industry heavily: Sets destroyed, offices inundated
Tauktae has battered several locations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala, causing casualties and damages. The devastating cyclone has also impacted the entertainment industry to a great extent. Sets of major upcoming Bollywood releases like Maidaan and Tiger 3, along with several serials, were destroyed. Many offices were inundated too. Tauktae added further woes to the fraternity that's already struggling because of COVID-19.
Outdoor sets of Ajay Devgn-starrer Maidaan were ravaged by the storm. There were about 40 crew members on the set, situated on the outskirts of Mumbai, who "tried their best to save as much as they could but their efforts proved totally futile," said a source. Hence its shoot came to a standstill. This is the second time shoot got halted for the film.
Earlier in May last year, a 16-acre, high-maintenance set made for the sports drama on that same location had to be dismantled because of COVID-19 and rains. The team has already shot many outdoor scenes in Kolkata and Lucknow. It's slated for an October release.
Tiger 3 is another production that suffered, albeit "slightly." The set of the Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif project, created at SRPF Ground, Goregaon, wasn't affected much by the cyclone, since shoots weren't happening at that time, said reports. No casualty was reported. Meanwhile, Sanjay Leela Bhansali had done a smart job and covered the Gangubai Kathiawadi set at Film City before last year's monsoon.
"The move benefited him immensely," said a source. Not just films, many serial productions that had shifted sets out of Maharashtra to continue shooting across the Western Coast have also suffered. BN Tiwari of FWICE said, "Shoots of serials in Daman, Diu, Umbergaon and Gujarat have been halted." "It'll be a week before the damage can be taken stock of, and shoots can resume."
Popular television shows like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai suffered immensely due to the torrential rains and storms. Reportedly, a wall has collapsed there. Earlier, the crew had said they were successful in securing all the equipment. Amitabh Bachchan's office Janak in Mumbai was also flooded and the senior actor had penned how his staff had battled the disaster bravely, in his recent blog.
Sets of Super Dancer and Indian Idol were erected inside banquet halls, so they remained safe. Producer-actor JD Majethia confirmed several open sets have been washed away. Further, given the situation, Maharashtra government has allowed production houses to cover their sets for the upcoming monsoon.
