Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan-led ‘Vikram Vedha’ is one of the most anticipated films of the year, with the movie being an official remake of the 2017 Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller that starred R Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead.
While the film wrapped up its shoot last month to prep for its September 30 release, there have been reports in the media that the movie’s creative talent, namely its lead star, had demanded that the ‘Vikram Vedha’ set be moved to the UAE at the height of the pandemic in India. Some news reports have singled out Roshan as the actor who refused to film in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, citing protocol concerns.
Producers Reliance Entertainment have now issued a clarification on Twitter, confirming that the film had been shot in the UAE but it had nothing to do with Roshan or a refusal to shoot in India.
“We have been noticing a lot of misleading and totally unsubstantiated reporting on Vikram Vedha shoot locations. We clearly want to state that Vikram Vedha has been shot extensively in India, including Lucknow,” the statement reads.
“A portion of the film was shot in the United Arab Emirates in October-November of 2021 since it was the only location providing infrastructure for a bio-bubble that accommodated a crew of such scale, also allowing the building of sets in a studio during the preceding months of the shoot,” the statement continued.
Reliance Entertainment further stated that the decision was ‘out of health and protocol concerns’, while further adding: “Any attempts to twist this set of facts are clearly mischievous and untruthful. Also, we would like to emphatically state that at Reliance Entertainment while we welcome suggestions from the creative talent, the production and budgetary decisions are a centralized prerogative.”
‘Vikram Vedha’ was filmed in Abu Dhabi last year, with Roshan stationed here as part of a 45-day shoot schedule. According to a previous report by PTI, The Backlot, which covers 4 million square feet (approximately 91 acres) with a variety of different sets at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), was transformed to look like the Indian city of Lucknow.
‘Vikram Vedha’ is helmed by director duo Pushkar–Gayathri, which has been adapted from a screenplay by Neeraj Pandey.
