Sharman Joshi

There is a lot of talk in Bollywood about Ferrari Ki Sawaari — Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s next big production after 3 Idiots — being scrapped. The film is directed by first-timer Rajesh Mapuskar and stars Sharman Joshi in the lead.

But t2 sources revealed that Ferrari Ki Sawaari has, in fact, completed 60 per cent of its shoot. The film has largely been shot on roads and the crew is religiously going to locations and shooting amidst live audiences.

With the first schedule of shooting complete, the crew embarked on its second schedule in June. The first schedule had started on April 13 and included the filming of two songs composed by Pritam.

In the second schedule, Boman Irani, a Vinod Chopra Films favourite who plays a pivotal role here too, has joined the team.

Ferrari Ki Sawaari is “a funny and heart-warming film about a young father’s endeavour to fulfil his son’s dream of playing cricket at Lord’s in England”.

The principal shooting should get wrapped up by November 2011.

A chunk of the film has been shot on the Mumbai University campus. The last film to have got this rare permission was reportedly Vinod Chopra’s 1942: A Love Story — 18 years ago! The university is a 130-year-old heritage building and the authorities only agreed to grant permission after thoroughly scrutinising the scene.

Director Mapuskar said: “It was like a dream come true to get a chance to shoot on the university campus and capture the true essence of the heritage building after so many years. Sharman was absolutely great and there was a lot of positive energy on the sets. Everyone was completely focused on doing their best.”

3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani has written the dialogues for Ferrari Ki Sawaari. He and Vinod Chopra are also part of the film’s creative think tank.

Mapuskar is supposedly going “the Raju way”, trying to make the film as perfect as possible.

For that, shooting at real locations is a must, which is why Sharman is travelling with the entire cast and doing his scenes among big crowds.