Post-pandemic foreign shoots might just be stopped for a while: Ravi Bhagchandka

At a time when the global economy has come to a virtual standstill, the entertainment industry cannot protect itself from being affected. While the real challenges will unravel themselves in the days to come industry experts are already predicting a tough time for films across the board.

For producers the challenge is going to be several-fold, one of the being — if they have a film that is already on the floors, how easily can they wrap up the project? Secondly, if they are developing a project, then will a foreign location at this point in time make sense? Remember a large number of foreign countries offer huge subsidies for films to be shot at various locations in their countries.

But producer Ravi Bhagchandka says it might be difficult, if not impossible, for some time to come. "I find it very hard to imagine that any producer would invest in taking a crew abroad when there are likely to be major impediments to travelling internationally. Not just that, the fear of the virus still being active in different parts of the world is a concern that most producers are likely to have till a cure is found for the Coronavirus," says Bhagchandka.

During the making of the documentary, 'Sachin: A Billion Dreams', Ravi travelled easily across the world to put the film together. In fact for a number of his projects that are in the development stage Bhagchandka had been mulling foreign locales. "The reason why a large number of films had been shot abroad is that foreign countries offer attractive incentives and subsidies for films to be shot there. For an aspirational Indian audience, these foreign locations make the film look even exotic and richer in look and feel. But now scripts would have to be rewritten and the foreign locations under consideration will have to be reevaluated," he adds.

Ravi Bhagchandka is currently developing the Hindi adaptation to George McCutcheon’s 1902 book, Brewster's Millions. The script by Balwinder Singh Janjua is ready and Bhagchandka is looking for a director and cast. A cricketer turned filmmaker with a diverse background in media, entertainment, and sports, Bhagchandka founded his production house 200 Not Out Cinemas (P) Ltd and produced Sachin: A Billion Dreams, under the banner which showcased the life and journey of the cricket God of India Sachin Tendulkar.