Actor-director Ramesh Aravind is evergreen. The man, who has been in the film industry for three decades, has not slowed down when it comes to his energy or passion for cinema. The actor now dons the role of a cop in the film 100, which is a remake of the Tamil film Thiruttu Payale 2 . However, Ramesh says he has rewritten the script and introduced a new character to suit his story line
Ramesh is also directing the film. The shoot is in a stately old home with ‘70s architecture in Malleswaram.
We reach the shoot during the lunch break. Not wanting to disturb the actor, we walk around and take a look at the set. The busy road is attracting attention with huge make up vans parked outside the house and a large team setting up lights, clearing the space and putting things on shelves...
We are pleasantly surprised to see Ramesh having his lunch on the patio with the crew rather than by himself in his make up van. The gentleman that he is, he immediately greets us and walks along with us showing us the entire set and introducing the crew.
Shot in the room
The post lunch scene will be shot in a room. The team is setting it up with lights and furniture. A young man is busy ironing a few set of clothes on a make-shift stand.
The house where the shoot is happening is Ramesh’s house in the movie. There are two main female characters in the film, Rachita Ram and Poorna (an actress from the Telugu film industry), who plays Ramesh’s wife. The film is produced by Ramesh Reddy.
The day’s shoot, explains Ramesh, is about women being stalked and how the wife reacts when she gets a call. “We are also shooting the interiors of the house today,” adds the actor-director.
Rachita is now ready for her shoot. She is supposed to be talking to a person on her mobile. We can’t hear the other voice, but Rachita is supposed to emote and speak her dialogues with conviction.
Ramesh watches the monitor carefully and gives Rachita a few ideas to improvise on her lines. The shoot is progressing fast and Ramesh gives instructions for the next scene.
A parcel is delivered to Rachita and she is supposed to open the box. Ramesh and his associates place the box over the camera so once Rachita opens it, the audience see her face framed by the cardboard box with golden light from the parcel reflecting off her face.
This takes three to four shots till the director is happy with the light and the angle.
They progress to the next scene and Ramesh shares a few more details about 100.
“I play a cop in this film too. You know there was a phase where I was doing only romantic roles, like I fall in love with a girl and end up sacrificing her for another man. Then I did a batch of comedy films and now suddenly I find myself in khaki all the time. I play a policeman specialising in criminal cases in Bhairadevi and in Shivaji Surathkal I play a cop with great detective skills. Now, in 100 I play a cyber cop. While I only acted as a cop in the other two films, I am also directing 100. The film is called 100 as that is the police helpline and is about cyber-stalking.”
The film was a myth buster for the actor. “We are used to seeing police stations as run-down buildings with images of Gandhiji or Netaji. But when we visited a cyber crime department, I was shocked to see a corporate office, including paintings on the wall. That is the kind of police station you will see in my film,” he says.
The VFX touch
The shoot progresses. Ellango Jupiter, the VFX supervisor sits with Ramesh, he also watches the monitor carefully. “I will be creating the visual effects with Subheesh Ramnathan, the VFX producer,” he says, sharing a few designs he has already created for the film. He says how he plans to create certain special effects specially for Rachita, but swears us to secrecy.
As the team is working on the set up for the next shot, Ramesh sits in front of the monitor and carefully watches every section of the room. He suggests a few changes before the shoot starts.
This time, Rachita takes position in front of a poster of a dancing girl. She is supposed to strike the same dance pose.
The same shot is taken a couple of times as Ramesh wants her to recreate the same pose. As Rachita acts it out, all eyes watch the monitor intensely and tell her just how much she should bend, or where her hands should be placed. In the movie, she gets a call as she is dancing and is supposed to react to the call.
Once the shot is okayed, she rushes back to her van to change her costume. “This is the 10th time I am changing the costume today,” she smiles and says as she rushes out. “But being a part of this film is great.”
This column takes you behind the scenes
