Mumbai, Nov 3 (IANS): The whole world stopped back in the first quarter of 2020. As the pandemic ravaged the world, India too went into a nationwide lockdown. This affected many film productions that were either underway or were about to start. The soon to release film 'Meenakshi Sundareshwar' too hit a roadblock as the film's unit had to be called back.

One would think that the lockdown toppled the production schedule of the film and its budgets but, in hindsight it helped the team to get a more solid grip on the film. Abhimanyu Dassani, who plays the titular role of Sundareshwar in the film, spoke with IANS and revealed how the lockdown gave them the time to reflect and set a new perspective.

The actor said, "We had intense readings before we started shooting for the film. The film was actually supposed to be shot before the first lockdown. Half of the people (from the film's unit) had left Bombay to shoot for the first schedule but they were called back because the lockdown was happening."

"So, we got enough time during the lockdown to understand the characters and live with them for a while, which in this day and age is tough to do because we're moving on from one project to another. Getting enough time to live with the characters, empathise with them, and understand them", he concluded.

Directed by debutant Vivek Soni, 'Meenakshi Sundareshwar' also stars Sanya Malhotra and will be available to stream on Netflix from November 5.