Manoj Bajpayee contracts Covid-19 during Despatch shoot

By: Mohnish Singh

Multiple award-winning Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee has tested positive for Covid-19, his team confirms. The actor is currently in quarantine at home.

Bajpayee had been shooting for his upcoming film Dispatch for over a month now. But with him contracting the Coronavirus, the shoot of the investigative thriller has now come to a halt.

In a statement, his team said, “Manoj Bajpayee has tested Covid positive after his director was infected with it. The shoot has stopped and will resume in a couple of months. Manoj Bajpayee is on medication and recovering well. He is in self-quarantine at home and following all precautions.”

Directed by Kanu Behl, Dispatch went on floors on January 6. The thriller tells the story of what goes in the underbelly of crime journalism. Well-known filmmaker Ronnie Screwvala is bankrolling the project under his banner of RSVP Movies. Set to be shot in London, Delhi, and Mumbai, Dispatch will have a direct-to-digital release on a streaming media platform.

Talking about the film, Bajpayee had earlier said, “As an actor, I want to be part of stories that I want to tell and that deserve to be told. Despatch is one such film. With the digital age, our stories can now reach and be accessed by viewers across the globe, and I am confident this film will have many takers because it is relevant to our times. I am looking forward to collaborating with Kanu Behl who is well versed with the changing times and has total control on his craft of storytelling.”

Bajpayee is also waiting for the premiere of his much-awaited streaming show The Family Man 2. It was originally slated to arrive in the first quarter of 2021 on Amazon Prime Video, but the makers have now pushed it to the second half of the year. The team is yet to lock date for its premiere.

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