Exclusive! Pushkar Gayatri: Shooting Suzhal - The Vortex during the pandemic was a logistical nightmare

The directors recollect working on the series during COVID-19,

Pushkar Gayatri along with Suzhal cast and crew

Popular filmmaker duo Pushkar and Gayatri, who have penned story and screenplay for Suzhal - The Vortex apart from producing it, is elated with the response for the Amazon Prime Video series which was dropped on June 17. The project is the first long-form content to be released in Tamil.

Interestingly, it is being hailed as the best series to have come out from Tamil till date, thanks to its gripping screenplay, captivating performances and neat technical aspects. Aishwarya Rajesh, Kathir, Parthiban and Sriya Reddy play lead roles in the series which has been released in several Indian and non-Indian languages.  

In a chat with OTTplay, the director duo opened up about the challenges they faced while shooting the project amid different waves of the pandemic. Pushkar says, "We started shooting in early 2020, completed the first schedule and came back to Chennai. The first lockdown was announced just three days before we were supposed to begin the next schedule. This spoiled all our plans and we had to wait for permission from the authorities concerned."

Gayatri recollects that permission for shooting was important for the crew as the team had to erect sets for a huge festival around which the story of the series is set against. "It was such a huge challenge for us. Our music director Sam CS would ideate sitting in his studio because of which we could complete a few recording works," she says.

Pushkar says that maintaining safety protocols on set after resuming shooting was also a Herculean task. "As producers of the show, it was our responsibility to ensure the safety of the cast and crew. It was really a logistical nightmare. Luckily, we were able to finish shooting before the second lockdown. With great support from our technical team members, we could finally pull it off," he signs off. 

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