Director Jayprad Desai, who directed Vikrant Massey, Taapsee Pannu and Sunny Kaushal-starrer ‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’, revealed in an exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in that the rail bridge sequence in the film was shot without CGI. (Mild spoilers ahead) While the crocodile appearing in the sequence was obviously created with CGI, the rest of the sequence was shot in real location and the actors too actually jumped into the river for the shot.
We asked director Jayprad Desai what the most challenging sequence in the film was. To that, he responded, “There was an elaborate scene on the rail bridge over Yamuna and shooting it was excruciatingly challenging. It has a huge fight sequence with all the three or rather four lead actors and numerous cast members. It was high on adventure, and we shot it on real location without any CGI, without any VFX. It almost seemed impossible when we set out for it.”
It was particularly challenging because of how time-bound the sequence was. When we enquired if the train that was on the tracks was also real, Desai confirmed it.
“Everything was real, you know. It’s the real Yamuna, it’s the real railway bridge, it’s a real train, and we had to stop it,” he said, adding, “It was crazy. When I look back at it, I myself can’t believe that I pulled it off (laughs). When I saw the location, I was completely blown over by the vastness of it. Thankfully it all worked out,” he said.
Desai also commended the three stars – Vikrant Massey, Taapsee Pannu and Sunny Kaushal – who actually jumped into the river for the sequence.
The director also spoke about creating a pulp film, a genre that has not been explored much in Indian cinema.
“The funny thing about pulp is that it features twisted characters. Everybody is wrong, nobody is completely right. But, there is flamboyance. Sometimes they are sociopaths, but charismatic sociopaths. So, even though they are wrong, the audience want to root for them. That’s also very intriguing, as there’s a bit of that (quality) in all of us. We are attracted to the forbidden. We might not always act on it, but there is always a fascination and attraction,” he told IndiaToday.in.
Desai also added, “The responsibility over here is to also retain the humanity and the innocence of the characters while bringing out their flamboyance. The problem is, sometimes you might get carried away, go over the top and make them larger than life, and lose humanity. That was what the preparation was for – to keep the precarious balance.”
‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’ is streaming on Netflix.
Source Agencies
