Vidya Balan’s travel travails

As has been reported in our paper earlier, actress Vidya Balan has resumed shooting for her film Sherni in Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh this week. However, we also hear that the actress has kept things simple in the days of the pandemic, especially with sanitisation and safety protocols costs hugely adding to film budgets.

One of our sources tells us that Vidya has, for instance, been travelling around 90 kilometres by road daily. “The location of the shoot is at Gondia, which is around 45 kilometres by road from Balaghat. Ordinarily, stars would ask for a helicopter to get them to the location daily, which would have increased the budgets manifold, but Vidya has made it easier for the producers by taking the road to the locations,” says our source.

The shooting of the film, which earlier took place at the Bhimpalasi Forest for thirteen days before the pandemic was declared, is currently taking place at the Langoor Forest.

“There is a very large crew of 150 people and about 50 police officials and rangers have also been deployed not only to ensure that the shoot does not disturb the natural habitat but also to ensure Vidya’s safety in the area,” the source adds.

The film, which is based on tigress Avni, is being directed by Newton director, Amit Masurkar. Vidya plays a forest officer in the film.