Saturday, June 13, 2009

Raavan shoot halted after smoke effect makes forest officials see red

The shoot of Mani Ratnam's Raavan in an Ooty forest came to a smokin' halt, Monday night. Excessive use of the smoke effect (created artificially, without burning stuff up) drew the attention of forest officials in the area.


Stuck: Govinda and Mani Ratnam

A source reveals, "Mani was shooting an action sequence with Govinda. The scene required a heavily smoked-up effect. The shoot started at around 8 pm and was stopped within an hour when forest officers reached the location. The thick smoke-filled location had the officials seeing red.
The shoot came to an abrupt stop and everyone was instructed to pack up. Mani then spoke to the officials for over an hour and assured them that no harmful chemicals would be used."
The source continues, "The shoot began by 11 pm. Govinda, who ironically plays a forest officer was enacting his action sequences with action director Sham Kaushal. Earlier action director Peter Hein was on board, but since he has fractured himself, Sham was taken as a replacement. The shoot goes on till the wee hours in the morning. The cast and crew rest in the day and start work at night."
This is not the first time the unit has run into problems with the forest officials. Earlier, the Kerala Forest Division had asked the cast and crew to move out due to illegal construction in one of their forests. Govinda remained unavailable for comment.

Courtesy: mid-day.com

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