Principal photography began on Monday in Glasgow, Scotland, on “Blind,” a Bollywood remake of the eponymous 2011 Korean action thriller.
Sonam Kapoor (“Veere Di Wedding”) headlines the cast, which also includes Purab Kohli (“Sense8”) and Vinay Pathak (“A Suitable Boy”).
“Blind” follows a woman who loses her sight after a car accident, only to find her other senses develop, allowing her to help the police in an ongoing investigation.
The remake is directed by feature debutant Shome Makhija, who has previously worked with filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh (“Kahaani”) as associate director on a number of films, including the Glasgow-set “Badla,” a remake of 2016 Spanish-language thriller “The Invisible Guest,” starring Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu.
my brother @Shomemakhija turns director today + the nutcase @sonamakapoor stars! hopefully i get to assist. pic.twitter.com/HmD7ZUVvsa
— sujoy ghosh (@sujoy_g) December 28, 2020
“Blind” will shoot in a start-to-finish schedule in Glasgow, adhering to COVID-19 protocols. Mainland Scotland went into a Tier 4-level lockdown in recent days, but film and TV production is still allowed to continue as long as guidelines are followed.
The film is a co-production between Kanai, AVMA Media, Rainbow Studios and Kross Pictures.
Korean IP has long been fertile ground for Indian cinema, with the inspiration often leading to unauthorized remakes — that is, at least, until production outfit Kross came into the picture. Headed by Thomas Kim Hyunwoo, a former investment banker and L.A.-based Disney executive, Kross, alongside Endemol Shine India, produced Amitabh Bachchan-vehicle “Te3n” as an authorized remake of 2013 Korean crime drama “Montage” in 2016.
Kross was subsequently involved in “100 Days of Sunshine,” the 2018 Vietnamese remake of 2012 Korean hit “Never Ending Story,” and “Oh! Baby,” the Telugu-language Indian remake of 2014 Korean box office smash “Miss Granny.”
One of the biggest hits from Kross is the Chinese adaptation of Keigo Higashino’s Japanese novel “The Devotion of Suspect X.”
An Indian adaptation of Korean comedy-drama “Miracle in Cell No. 7” is also in the works from Kross.
Earlier this year, another Bollywood film, “Bellbottom,” starring Akshay Kumar, was shot entirely in and around Glasgow.