While the audio of the film Raate hit the market on Monday, the makers are planning to organise a unique launch function soon. At the event, director A P Arjun will share anecdotes about the worst and best experiences that the crew had while shooting the film. Pictures and videos will also be shown to the audience. Ahead of the event, Arjun tells us a few of those stories. Excerpts from a conversation with A Sharadhaa:
Four cheetahs and a black panther were spotted around the sets once, while we were shooting in the jungle. We were in the Yellapur forest area. It used to take a little more than an hour to reach the forest and we would shoot from 6 am to 6 pm. One evening, we stayed back to shoot a few scenes that required only the camera person and me along with a couple of assistants. It was 7.30 pm by the time we finished.
As we started back, one of our crew members, Giri, alerted me that there was a black panther and four cheetahs walking on the road. We switched on the lights in our car and turned the engine off. The wild animals were around our vehicle for at least eight minutes. Suddenly, there was a sound and they dispersed. We then immediately started driving. The memory still gives us goosebumps.
Rotis and ant chutney
There were a lot of leeches in the forest, and no amount of pesticides like DDT powder, kerosene or powdered naphthalene balls mixed with neem oil helped. There were also many scorpions. There was a fight scene for which we had to gather dry leaves. We moved a piece of bark and found hundreds of scorpions under it. They came out and crawled all over our bodies. We have shot two scenes with these scorpions.
We also spotted some green snakes. There were four tribals in the forest who provided us the things required for the shoot. We used to watch them holding snakes with no fear. Even though we recorded such things, we can’t show them on screen as it is against the censor guidelines.
For one scene, we needed kenje (big red ants) and a basket full of these ants was put on a tree. Later, these men gave us roti and chutney made of red ants. They said that the ants are very good for eyes, and it was actually very tasty.
The monkey visitor
I am a devotee of Lord Hanuman. While we were shooting at Gajendragada in front of the Hanuman statue, a monkey came over and stayed with us till the shoot got over. The monkey later took a plate and ate the food with its left hand. We were delighted to watch the animal hang out with us with such ease.
Though we made the movie amidst animals and poisonous reptiles, nothing affected our work. In fact, even rain supported us when we needed it. Nature gave us nothing but positive vibes throughout!