(From top) Preity Zinta, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan

Calcutta, Aug. 18: The London plane plot might have been foiled but it is having more than a lasting effect on the Bollywood barometer. As many as three big Hindi movies are in various stages of production in the UK capital, where every brown-skinned person is under the scanner.

Vipul Shah’s Namaste London starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Rishi Kapoor is already a couple of weeks into its 45-day shooting schedule in central London and its suburbs.

Yash Raj’s Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Shaad Ali’s next film after Bunty Aur Babli starring Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Preity Zinta and Lara Dutta, is also under way in London. Kal Ho Naa Ho-maker Nikhil Advani’s magnum opus Salaam-e-Ishq, which has everyone from Salman Khan to Priyanka Chopra, starts on August 22 in London.

And it has not been easy. Cancelled visas, location changes, delayed schedules…. Bollywood’s in a real tizzy in the face of the tightened security following the terror threat.

“The security has been very high,” director Shah told The Telegraph from London. “The main problem we are facing is airport transfers and visas. It all started after the Mumbai blasts when there was some stringency shown in giving visas. But after the Heathrow alert, things have just worsened.”

While Indian crew members have suffered because of visas not being issued to them, Preity has faced trouble because of her hand baggage.

“She left the same night that the terrorist plans were foiled and it is only natural that she must have faced special security checks,” said a friend of the actress. “But now, she has settled down and started shooting for Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.”

The use of local crew has helped Shah to shoot Namaste London smoothly. “Seventy five per cent of my crew is white and it has come in handy in a tight scenario like this,” he said.

“After the London terror threat, we might have gone in for another location but with a film like Namaste London it’s not an option because the city is a character in the film. When we started shooting in the beginning of August, we had no clue that something like this could happen. But thankfully, even now my unit is very spirited and has tried not to feel the pressure on a day-to-day basis.”

It is here that the Salaam-e-Ishq team may be worst hit.

Currently in the pre-production stage in London, some of the 60-strong crew have been denied visas. Revealed producer Mukesh Talreja: “They are daily wage earners, they do not pay tax and do not have financial security. Maybe that’s the reason they weren’t given the visas. But Nikhil is already there and I do not see any other problems cropping up.”

The film that has a huge star cast — Salman Khan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan and Juhi Chawla — will go on the London floors next Tuesday.