Rain, swine flu interrupt 'London Dreams' shoot

Mumbai, Sep 7 (IANS) After making the entire film without any hiccups, it was a nightmare for Vipul Shah to shoot the climax song for Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan starrer "London Dreams", thanks to rains and swine flu in Maharashtra.

"We were stuck for the last song because of the rains. And then because of swine flu, we weren't allowed to shoot in crowds. But I had no choice. The song couldn't be delayed."

Shah shot the final rock-concert number for "London Dreams" in Bhandup near Mumbai with 5,000 junior artistes cheering Salman, Ajay, Asin Thottumkal, Ranvijay and Aditya Roy Kapoor - they all play members of a music band.

Remo choreographed the song sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shankar Mahadevan.

"We couldn't get the stars' fans to fill up the open air auditorium set for the very simple reason that in the earlier concert songs for 'London Dreams' we had seen how unruly the fans get when they see their favourite stars dancing in front of them," he said.

On top of all the practical problems faced during the shooting of the song, the stars were all busy elsewhere.

"Salman was shooting for 'Dus Ka Dum'. He requested them to postpone their shooting for two days. Ajay was supposed to start Priyadarshan's shooting on those days. He asked Priyan to push his dates forward. Asin was doing an endorsement down south. Ranvijay was shooting for another film in Delhi. He flew both days and flew back. And Aditya, who was shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Guzaarish', also accommodated my song."

To compound Shah's troubles, Salman's dog died during the shooting. "I thought he would leave. But he continued shooting."

Though the experience of putting the climax song together turned out to be a nightmare, Shah is undeterred.

"I've relieved my non-core group of technicians for my film 'Action Replay' of their duties for now. When we regroup, they're free to join us. Akshay and Aishwarya have promised the dates whenever we need them. If the actors commit to a project, nothing can stop a film from reaching the winning post," he said. Click the Movie button below for more info:
London Dreams

Asin Pictures