Amritsar: The shooting of Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer ‘Udta Punjab’ at various locations in the city has undoubtedly generated a lot of buzz, but the film is being shot “without the permission” of the district administration and the police authorities, which they claim is “mandatory”.
Kareena and superstar of Punjabi cinema Diljit Dosanjh are shooting for the movies — directed by ‘Ishqiya’ helmer Abhishek Chaubey and produced by Anurag Kashyap’s Phantom Films — in rural areas of Amritsar as well as a few locations in the city.
The district and police authorities confirmed that the shooting of the film is going on without obtaining the “mandatory” permission.
Amritsar police commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh also confirmed that the filmmakers had not even asked for security, which is usually required for the safety of film stars and to control the crowd, which could go berserk and upset the law and order situation.
“There are two different issues: one, seeking permission for the shooting, while the other is seeking security from the local police. Police can only provide security if they have been asked for it. But I am sure that the filmmakers have not approached us neither we have been informed about the shooting in our district,” he said.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Amritsar deputy commissioner Ravi Bhagat said his office had not processed any request for permission to shoot the film in the city. “No permission has been sorted out from my office.” He added that the makers of another film had, in the meantime, sought permission more than a month ago to shoot in the city.
Bhagat said, “The filmmakers need to take prior permission before shooting in the district. Who would be responsible, if the law and order situation pops up,” questioned the DC.
District administration officials said in case of any untoward incident or law and order problem, the film crew would be in trouble as they had not sought the prior permission.
Officials said the district administration has the right to serve a notice to the filmmakers if they are shooting without the requisite permission.
According to sources, ‘Udta Punjab’ tells the story of substance abuse in Punjab. The other cast are Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor.
Kareena has lately been spotted in Patiala salwar suit while riding as a pillion on a motorcycle with Dosanjh in a village near Attari. Diljit and Kareena are putting up at a five star hotel (name undisclosed) in the city. Movie buffs are thronging shooting locations to have a glimpse of Kareena, who is among the topmost actor of Hindi cinema.
According to sources Kareena is being guarded by private security personnel.
