- Ranveer Singh's zombie thriller Pralay has started filming in Mumbai and nearby locations
- Kalyani Priyadarshan has joined the cast and expressed excitement about the project
- Pralay is directed by Jai Mehta, son of producer Hansal Mehta, and set in a post-pandemic Mumbai
Ranveer Singh's upcoming zombie thriller Pralay has officially gone on floors in Mumbai. The film will be shot across real locations in and around the city. Lokah actor Kalyani Priyadarshan has also joined the project.
Kalyani recently reacted to producer Ananya Birla's post announcing the start of filming and shared her excitement.
Pralay, directed by Jai Mehta, Hansal Mehta's son, takes viewers into a near future version of Mumbai after a deadly pandemic changes everything. The situation gets worse when a zombie outbreak leaves the city fighting for survival.
Soon after Ananya Birla announced the film's production news, Kalyani Priyadarshan, in the comments, replied, “Time to go make a film that we're all going to be so proud of.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter India, producer Hansal Mehta has not revealed many details about the story yet, but made it clear that Pralay is original and planned on a large scale.
He said, “Jai had been working on this idea for a long time. When Ranveer saw his directorial work, he was impressed. Then Jai pitched the idea to him. Once Ranveer said he liked the idea, we invested in developing it, helping Jai create the world he wants to present in the film. Ranveer's conviction and commitment towards both the script and Jai has enabled Pralay.”
“It's a post-apocalyptic world that hasn't been attempted before at this scale in India. Development is not just about writing. It also includes ideas, how you shape them, how you visualise them, and how you eventually sell them to a third party, to a star or a studio. We've invested in building those ideas.”
Hansal Mehta clarified that Pralay is not based on Jose Saramago's novel Blindness. He said the story has been written originally by Jai Mehta and Vishal Kapoor. Hansal explained that he does not think a book like Blindness can be easily turned into a film. He had watched the 2008 movie based on the novel but did not feel it worked well.
According to the filmmaker, the writing of authors such as Saramago and Salman Rushdie is better enjoyed through their books, as some of the special qualities of their work can be lost when made into a movie.