Anubhav Sinha to produce anthology based on COVID-19 pandemic; shares details

Director Anubhav Sinha has collaborated with filmmakers Sudhir Mishra, Hansal Mehta, Ketan Mehta, and Subhash Kapoor to back an anthology based on stories around coronavirus pandemic. To be produced under his banner, Benaras Mediaworks, "Thapp" director said he thought of documenting crisis after Sudhir's driver contracted COVID-19 and was unable to get a bed at hospital.

Subsequently, Anubhav said loss of close friend and actor Irrfan Khan, who passed away on April 29, and challenges of attending his last rites hit him harder. 

"What better way to do it than different filmmakers looking at different things? Sudhir's far passed during COVID. We lost Irrfan and couldn't t even go to his funeral. Sudhir bhai's driver h contracted COVID and he was unable to get a bed – and we were making all sorts of phone calls just to get him a hospital bed. Tigmanshu h to fight cops to go and said 'Irrfan is my bror, I will go.' All se things were disturbing. I thought se should be recorded. I spoke to my friends who agreed to do this and that's how idea behind it began to formalise," Anubhav said in a statement. 

55-year-old director said project offered an opportunity for all filmmakers to team up for a "good collaboration".  "re's one story by Subhash, one by Hansal, one by Sudhir, one probably by Ketan. se are filmmakers that I believe that so-called 'Bollywood' has largely igred," he ded. 

Shedding light on each filmmaker's story, Anubhav said, while Hansal's story is "comic and quite tragic", Mishra's film is political.  "Subhash's is also political, but in a different way. I am still struggling with my story - I want to tell an atmospheric story, which is about fear. I live on 20th floor and I can see a very large expanse of Mumbai from my window. It has suddenly started looking like a deserted, de city. And Ketan is saying 'main dekh ke batata hoon' (I will tell you in a while).'"

Produced by Anubhav Sinha under his banner Benaras Mediaworks, yet-to-be-titled anthology is scheduled to be released in 2021. Anand Gandhi, best kwn for "Ship of seus", is also set to direct a pandemic-based film titled "Emergence". 

(with PTI inputs)