‘Veer’ shoot cancelled due to swine flu scare in Pune!

The movie shoot got cancelled in Pune at the eleventh hour due to the widespread epidemic in the city.

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: Swine flu is giving sleepless nights to Bollywood! Earlier, if it was Karan Johar’s ‘Kurbaan’ whose shoot schedule got postponed due to the increasing number of swine flu cases in the city, this time it was Anil Sharma’s ‘Veer’ whose schedule in Pune got cancelled at the eleventh hour due to the widespread epidemic in the city. Talking to a news daily, a close source said, "It was a three-night shoot which required almost the entire star cast consisting of Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Zarine Khan, Jackie Shroff and Puru Rajkumar." It is believed that Vijay Galani (producer of ‘Veer’) had a word with actor Salman Khan and as a precautionary measure it was finally decided to cancel the shoot. When enquired about the whole episode, producer Galani confirmed the reports and said, "Yes, we decided to cancel the Pune schedule because of the swine flu. We have been reading about it but we were going ahead with our shoot. We were to leave yesterday afternoon for Pune and shoot for five nights till August 15 at a college campus. We had booked two options the Pune Engineering College and the Agricultural College campus but yesterday morning we took a call not to go there. My crew had been telling me for the last few days to cancel the shoot. Salman said it`s up to me. So for the safety of my cast, crew, and technicians, I have cancelled the shoot." However, Galani is scouting for new locations in Mumbai as, "I will try to manage the Pune schedule in Mumbai. I have to look after the safety and interests of my cast, technicians and crew." Meanwhile, director Anil Sharma maintained, "We decided it is better not to go as our was a big unit and it would attract huge crowds. The Pune administration is busy with the swine flu and it would be unfair for them to look after us too. We didn`t want to take an unnecessary risk and have our unit exposed to swine flu. Salman also wanted it to be cancelled as he said this is the right decision."