Sushmita Sen on shooting 'Aarya' during pandemic: We've become lockdown specialists

MUMBAI: Ram Madhavni's 'Aarya' has emerged as one of the most gripping crime thrillers. An official adaption of the hit Dutch series 'Penoza', the Sushmita Sen-starrer is returning with its second season.

The lead character will become more fierce after spiralling into dark alleys of the crime world. Interestingly both the seasons were shot during the pandemic with the entire crew shielding themselves inside a bio bubble.

Sushmita recently spoke about the experience of working during lockdowns and how everyone pulled off both the seasons with clinical precision, she said, "We've become lockdown specialists now! We either release during a lockdown or shoot during it, that's our new thing. When we completed the shoot for 'Aarya 2', on our farewell, we said how blessed we were to be working during the pandemic."

She credits the incredible teamwork behind the successful culmination, as she adds, "There were so many people who had to sit at home, but this is also a nice culmination of teamwork. We had Disney+ Hotstar, Ram Madhvani, the entire crew and the cast together. Everyone just pulled in following the rules and making it possible."

Sharing her experience of working in a bio bubble, the actress says, "My God! The very definition of a bubble is now etched in my mind forever. For any crew member to work in a PPE kit, covered from head to toe for 10 hours a day is seriously tough."

She says that "constant tests" and living away from family "initially seemed difficult" but, soon they got acclimatised to the process. She says, "In the bigger picture, we were full of gratitude to be working at such a time and being able to create something that you love. I mean 'Aarya' Season 2 is a big leap from the first season."

"It's delightful to see the same series move with such pace and difference, when you've already taken the story miles ahead and it was always used to be a question mark. Ram Madhvani used to say what are we going to do in the rest of the season? There's already so much and then he would say, wait for it, we have a lot of content; we have a fantastic subject."

"So, working during the lockdown period was amazing, we had to shoot in Jaipur which is Aarya's hometown and of course patchwork was executed in Mumbai, so our schedule was executed pretty much through the lockdown", the actress concludes.

SOURCE : IANS