Arun Vijay was the only Tamil actor on the sets of Prabhas’ upcoming ambitious film, Saaho. The actor, known for his passion for training and performance in stunt sequences, remembers being inspired by the team of Hollywood stunt director Kenny Bates in action. “We had a long stint in Abu Dhabi with Hollywood stunt men choreographing our moves to precision. The whole setup gave me a great opportunity to closely observe how Hollywood teams function on the sets,” says Arun.
In particular, he noticed the economy of the shooting. “Not one additional punch or kick was shot. Every shot was planned to the last detail. Here, typically, we shoot a lot of additional scenes, but they wouldn’t allow the actors and stunt men to strain themselves unnecessarily.” Arun also expresses admiration for the rigorous safety measures they undertook. “As an action buff, it was like being in paradise for me. I saw how they had storyboards to plan every shot, every move.”
After his Abu Dhabi shoot, Arun travelled to Hyderabad to shoot at Ramoji Film City. “I was taken aback by the grandness of Sabu Cyril’s sets. They had recreated some of the Abu Dhabi shoot locations in their entirety. Even minor engravings on, say, chair handles were recreated. For a minute, it almost felt like I was back in Abu Dhabi,” says Arun with a laugh. “Such perfection makes the actors give their best too.”