Wednesday, April 15, 2009

On the Raavana Shoot (AshAbhi & Co.)

She loves her phuchkas while he likes his rabri t2 brings you the Raavan team’s behind-the-scenes story

The BIG NAMES

Mani Ratnam, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Shobana, Shaad Ali, Tamil star Vikram , Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran, city fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Mani Ratnam’s wife Suhasini, Vijay Krishna Acharya (dialogue director of Raavan), stuntman Shyam Kaushal.

Also present were Sachin Khedekar, Nikhil Dwivedi, Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan and Tamil actor Prabhu but what role Mani Sir has assigned them was not clear.

The spot

After combing the whole country for a bungalow by the river, Mani Ratnam fell for Saheb Kuthi, perched on the bank of Hooghly. The location looked just right to shoot a song sequence, some indoor scenes and high drama with AbAsh on the Hooghly.

“The rooms of Saheb Kuthi were spacious and allowed smooth movement of trolleys,” says Subir Chanda, the chief co-ordinator for Raavan in Calcutta. In the film, Saheb Kuthi will be shown as the residence of a superintendent of police (SP), played by Vikram in Raavan and Prithviraj in Ashokavanam (the Tamil version). Agarpara will be showcased as a place in the MP-UP belt.

The star couple

A white vanity van was Ash’s refuge — it’s where she rested, slept, mugged up her lines and read James Hadley Chase.

Ash became more visible after Abhishek’s entry. The husband-wife duo would sit and chat at the garden swing or walk hand in hand on the lawns, she giggling and he laughing.

One of Abhishek’s favourite activities was watching his wife do her job from the sidelines. When Ash slid off a small boat after it hit a big barge carrying Abhishek, the doting hubby turned to the crowd on the banks and urged them to cheer his wife’s performance! The only socialising the couple made room for was a dinner invitation at Taj Bengal. AbAsh had spent the rest of that night shooting at the Chitpur rail terminus.

Food fare

The petite Ash is a frugal eater. No tea, coffee or cold drinks for Ma’am. If breakfast meant a sandwich, baked beans and some boiled vegetables, lunch would just be a soup, two rotis and dal. “She enjoyed the Bengali dal and alu potol but would eat very little,” says Subir Chanda.

The must-have items on the team menu were mishti doi, rosogolla, rajbhog and gulab jamun. “Mani Ratnam is very fond of Bengali sweets and Ash too would pick on them at times,” adds Chanda.

But the Bachchan bahu showed a real weakness for phuchkas, Bengali style! So, Chanda carted in a phuchkawala from BT Road, and handed him a packet of crisp puris and distilled water to make phuchkas for Ash. The Bollywood beauty gobbled up eight phuchkas sitting inside her vanity van.

“Abhishek wanted to have rabri. So we got rabri from Dwarik and 2kg of puli pithey from Ganguram,” says Chanda. “A local caterer cooked Bengali food for the crew. Lakshmanji, who had done the catering for Shyam Benegal during the shoot of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: the forgotten hero, was flown down from Mumbai to make the non-Bengali meals and Ash’s food.”

Masala muri was the popular evening snack for the unit boys. “Abhishek, Vikram and Prithviraj loved the muri mix with mustard oil and onion,” says Chanda, who had arranged a Bengali lunch at Aaheli for Mani Ratnam, DoP Manikandan, Shaad Ali and Vijay Krishna Acharya.

Who’s who

Ash plays a professional Bharatnatyam dancer married to the SP. Abhishek is the bad guy from a village; so is Vikram in the Tamil version.

Bunty Aur Babli director Shaad had the tough task of managing the floor as associate director. Shobana, choreographing for a film for the first time, was always just a step behind Ash, guiding her classical moves. With the Hindi script in hand, Tashan director Vijay Krishna Acharya was at Mani’s beck and call.

Stunt co-ordinator Shyam Kaushal, known for his thrills in Don, Om Shanti Om, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Gulaal, steered the action scenes on a boat mid-river with Ash, Abhishek and Vikram. A bombing sequence on the Saheb Kuthi lawns needed his skills too. Mani’s wife Suhasini joined the crew midway to help Ash, Vikram and Prithviraj with their dialogues and movements for the Tamil version.

The only man (apart from Abhishek) Ash chatted with when not working was our very own Sabyasachi. Ash’s continuous switch from anarkali to lehenga to sari called for Sabya’s constant attention. He helped her choose her costumes, co-ordinated wardrobe changes and gave a finishing touch to her look.

The main man

Mani Sir lived up to his reputation of a tough taskmaster. A man of few words, Mani would reach the sets before most of his unit members could. He worked without too many shot divisions as he likes innovating on the spot.

Backstage nuggets

Raavan producer Madras Talkies had trundled into town with most of the equipment, from lights and generator to Jimmy Jib camera cranes and Panther camera support systems. Locally sourced items meant props — upholstery, kitchenware and decor pieces — to do up Ash’s home.

What the unit hadn’t anticipated was the trouble they would have to go through to get hold of a private Gypsy van for Ash’s cop hubby to ride. The reason? Most Gypsy vans in town have been taken up by Calcutta Police. The unit later tracked down a private car in Birati.

The plan to shoot in the Sunderbans was abandoned by Mani. “High and low tides at unpredictable hours would make it difficult to maintain continuity. The banks were extremely muddy and water carriers were the only transport around the region. It wasn’t safe for the unit, carrying huge and heavy equipment. Besides, there was no place to put up Aishwarya and Abhishek,” explains Chanda.

What next

The unit is now busy scouting for locations in Karnataka and Mathura. Shooting starts this month.

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