Ranbir added that he had not done a movie on this scale and in this genre, so it needed a lot of conviction…reports Asian Lite News
The Capital’s cinema buffs got to see both Sanjay Dutt and the man who played him on the big screen, Ranbir Kapoor, on Monday evening when the cast of Karan Malhotra’s ‘Shamshera’ came on a promotional tour to the city.
Explaining his absence from the big screen since the Sanjay Dutt biopic ‘Sanju’ was released in 2018, Ranbir said: “After ‘Sanju’, I was working on ‘Shamshera’ and ‘Brahmastra’. These two big-budget movies took time and then my dad was unwell and a pandemic happened.”
Ranbir and his co-star Vaani Kapoor also talked about shooting in mud and how tough it was to get rid of it.
And Malhotra mentioned shooting the movie in Ladakh: “There were about 200 to 300 people who were shooting at the outdoor location and about 60 horses that we brought in from outside as you don’t get large horses in Ladakh. You only get mules.”
Ranbir added that he had not done a movie on this scale and in this genre, so it needed a lot of conviction.
Vaani then talked about the most challenging part and said: “Certain emotional scenes were quite tough, but I remember more of the fun part.”
Ranbir also recalled his father and late actor Rishi Kapoor’s reaction when he signed the movie.
He said: “My father worked with Karan in ‘Agneepath’ and that film brought a lot of fame to my father. He was very happy with the impact of the film. When I signed this film, he was very happy. He always used to complain that my film choices were very poor and so he was very excited when I signed ‘Shamshera’.”
Dutt added, sounding somewhat tutored: “Every project is a learning experience for me and I learned a lot while working in ‘Shamshera’.”
Ranbir said, more spontaneously, that the action part was very challenging and the climax, which the unit shot in the last 15 days, was very tough.
Vaani concluded the evening, saying that the song ‘Kaale Naina’ was just to tease the audience to watch the movie. The actors also put up a special performance for the fans at a mall in south-west Delhi.
Produced by Aditya Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner and directed by Karan Malhotra, the film features Ranbir Kapoor in a double role with Sanjay Dutt as the antagonist alongside Vaani Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Saurabh Shukla and Ashutosh Rana. It will be released in theatres on July 22.
400-feet train made for one-take action sequence
Director Karan Malhotra, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film ‘Shamshera’, shared that an action sequence featuring Ranbir Kapoor happens on a train for which a 400-feet train was constructed.
Karan said: “From our set design to action set pieces, everything was crafted to ensure that Shamshera gives the audience a visual extravaganza that is unforgettable. However, we were clear that whatever we did, it had to look like it was from the era that the film is set in.”
“One such larger-than-life action sequence happens on a train. There were challenges because getting a train from the 1800s wasn’t possible.”
“So, we created an approximately 400-foot train for that sequence. It was a huge task! I congratulate the production design and YFX (YRF’s VFX arm) team of Shamshera for taking up such a mammoth responsibility and executing it so brilliantly,” he said.
“It took around a month to construct this train in all its glory. For me, I had to do a massive action sequence on the train and I was adamant about showing how grand such a sequence can look on the big screen.”
He further says, “I wanted to do it in one take so that the adrenaline rush the audiences feel while watching it would be unparalleled to anything they have ever seen! Credit to Ranbir for acing this scene. I remember telling him after shooting this that he was born to do action films because he is naturally gifted as an actor to play any part convincingly. You have to see the film to understand what he has done as an action hero in Shamshera!”
The story of ‘Shamshera’ is set in the fictitious city of Kaza, where a warrior tribe is imprisoned, enslaved and tortured by a ruthless authoritarian general called Shuddh Singh. This is the story of a man who became a slave, a slave who became a leader and then a legend for his tribe. He relentlessly fights for his tribe’s freedom and dignity.
Directed by Karan Malhotra, this action extravaganza has been produced by Aditya Chopra and is set to release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on July 22, 2022.