Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction leads to disruption in Alia Bhatt’s ‘Raazi’ shoot

Recently, the arrest of self-proclaimed Godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan over rape charges led to a massive unrest in Punjab as his followers got violent on the streets which even claimed the lives of some and left many others injured. Now, as the verdict is all set to be pronounced, the shoot of Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal-starrer ‘Raazi’ has come to a halt. The shoot was going on in Patiala, but on Friday, the director Meghna Gulzar sensed unrest and immediately called for a halt, as the makers realised the grave impact the protests could have on their shoot and they wanted to avoid any sort of problems for their team. The sensitive situation forced the makers to stop the shoot so as to look after their team’s safety.

A source close to Mid-day revealed, “Given the situation, Meghna realised that it would be unsafe to shoot in Patiala. The team was required to shoot across several locations in the city, and moving around with the stars and equipment was a risky proposition. Mobile and internet services were also stopped, so communication was another issue among the unit. The cast and crew stayed put inside the hotel over the weekend. They did not want any untoward incidents to unfold considering the high alert in the state.” (Also Read: Will Alia and Varun’s dates issue delay ‘Shiddat’?)

A curfew has been imposed in some parts of Patiala and Punjab due to the vandalism by the followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan. The source further said that the cast and crew stayed put in the hotel over the weekend as they didn’t want any untoward incident considering the high alert in the state. The Patiala schedule of the movie kickstarted last week and is supposed to be wrapped up by September 10 which is followed by another Chandigarh schedule, however the disruption in the shoot could take a bit longer.

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.