Kiccha Sudeep
was all set to begin shooting for his
Anup Bhandari-directorial
Phantom this week in Hyderabad; a schedule that has now been delayed owing to rain.
The film will, incidentally, be the first big Kannada production to resume shooting. And the team has put several safety measures in place, starting with an entire crew from Karnataka, says
producer Manjunath Gowda
.
"The entire crew working on Phantom is from Karnataka. Sudeep sir suggested this so that the cast and crew only shuttles between the set and the accommodation arranged by the production house to ensure zero risk of any other contact. In a way, we are implementing a work-quarantine model. We have spoken to the unions in Hyderabad as well, and have told them that if we were to hire someone from that industry to be a part of the filmmaking, he/she would have to comply to the same rule, rather than returning to his/her own home after pack-up," explains Manjunath.
That apart, the team is also making sure that cast and crew members are between a certain age group, with children and the elderly not part of the schedule as of now. "We will have cast and crew aged between 21 and 47 years only, to prevent any risks. The film does have a few important sequences involving children, which we are hoping to schedule by the end of the 50-day shoot plan that we have in Hyderabad currently. The idea is to also ensure adequate artiste rotation, so that we have different actors on set every week," says Manjunath, adding the 100-member team will be split between different floors of the set as per the stipulations of the Telangana government.