Action Director Parvez Shaikh reveals ‘Vicky Kaushal insisted on doing all action himself’: ‘We used 5-6 cameras and drones to shoot the action sequences’ – Exclusive |
Action Director Parvez Shaikh shared his experience working on Chhaava, revealing how intense the action sequences were. He shared, “We designed the action choreography before the shoot. Vicky Kaushal and Vineet Kumar Singh used to rehearse. The shoot in Wai (Maharashtra) was tough. We used 5-6 cameras and drones to shoot the action sequences. We would do a couple of rehearsals before going for the take. We had 150-odd stuntmen, and we sometimes mixed junior artists. We would find difficulties working with those who were new to doing action.”
He praised Vicky for performing his stunts himself, saying, “Vicky has done the action by himself. He would give us as many takes as we wanted for the perfect shot. He had never done an action film as big as Chhaava. We told Vicky we could do the difficult action sequences in wide shots with a body double. But he insisted on doing all the action himself.”
Shaikh also detailed Vicky’s dedication to filming a difficult scene, where he was chained by Aurangzeb for hours. “When we were shooting the scenes where he was chained by Aurangzeb, he had to stand, chained for 2-3 hours. Those shots were filmed during the day as well as in the night. That time, he had pulled a muscle or something. Hence, the shooting had to be stopped, and that caused some delay. He resumed shooting after undergoing physiotherapy,” Parvez added.
Vineet Kumar Singh, who had done action in Mukkabaaz, was trained to use a sword and shield. Shaikh added, “All the actors in the film were dedicated to the required action for the film. The result is for everyone to see.”
He credited the film’s director, Laxman sir, with allowing him full creative control, “Laxman sir gave me complete freedom to do the action choreography. He assured me, “Masterji aap ko poori chhoot hai. Aap karo. Main aap ke saath khada hoon.” When you get such freedom, it reflects in the quality of your work.”
Shaikh also highlighted Ashutosh Rana’s commitment to his stunts. “Ashutosh Rana also did his stunts himself. We used a harness and cables for his shots. He thought he wouldn’t be able to do it but we motivated him. Then he said, “Bring the harness. I’ll do it.” He did his stunts in one or two takes and enjoyed it. We had kept a body double ready but we didn’t use him,” he shared.
“We had about 150 action guys. In a shot featuring Vicky, we would need 40-50 stuntmen. We used junior artists and locals from around Wai for the crowd shots. The credit for gathering those 2500-odd people for the crowd sequences goes to the production team,” he concluded.
