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'Shooting visit to youthful 'Ilavattam' '
By:
Palaniswamy
When we went to Kalpana House to cover the fight scene in the film 'Ilavattam' for Cinesouth, something cool was waiting for us. There we found young hero Navdeep and new face heroine Sheela acting in a very intimate scene that was being shot under the supervision of director A R Rajaraja.
When we asked him, "Why, no fighting scene or have you changed the schedule?" he smiled and answered, "Don't be in a hurry. We are leading up to the fight scene. The fight is next. Kanal Kannan is expected any time. He called to say that he is on his way. We should finish the lead before he comes." Then Rajaraja went about his business.
While Sheela was lounging on the bed with just a top and skirt, Navdeep was embracing her. Since the scene showed them both blinded by love, it was shot from the top angle with a steady cam by Selva who has wielded the camera for films like 'Priyamudan' and 'Adidhadi.' Looking at Sheela in this erotic scene, it was difficult to imagine that this girl was the same scared little girl wearing skirt and blouse who played the role of Surya's sister in 'Nanda.' Rajaraja has totally transformed her!
As soon as the lead scene was shot, the stunt master Kanal Kannan arrived as if in perfect timing. We keenly watched director Rajaraja explaining the concept of the fight scene. "Sir, everyone in the heroine's house have gone out of town for a wedding. Only the heroine is alone in the house. She tells the hero about it and he immediately comes rushing to her house. The hero and heroine are young school kids. The solitude ignites their feelings and they slowly let themselves be carried away.
It so happens that the heroine's brother-in-law has an eye on her and knowing she would be alone at home, he comes there. When he sees her and the hero in a clinch, he gets livid and ties to hit her. The hero tries to prevent him, but he gets bashed up and hung upside down by a rope and then the villain (brother-in-law) tries to rape her. The hero swings on the rope even as he's dangling upside down, smashes into a mirror, breaks his confining rope with a piece of glass and thrashes the villain," explained Rajaraja in great detail.
Kanal Kannan composed an energetic fight sequence between Navdeep and Bablu who plays the brother-in-law. He was full of appreciation for young hero Navdeep's involvement in the scene. When Kanal Kannan wanted to use a dupe stunt man for the mirror breaking scene, Navdeep said he would do it himself, but Kanal Kannan would not accept it as it was too risky. Director Rajaraja also agreed that it was a big risk.
But Navdeep stubbornly wanted to do the shot himself and carefully smashed up the glass with his back without any major accidents and finished the shot smoothly. There were however some minor scratches from broken glass, on his face and hands. He completed the whole fight sequence without bothering about this and the entire unit appreciated him for not making a fuss.
As we took leave of director Rajaraja at Kalpana House, he told us a bit about 'Ilavattam.' "Balu Mahendra was the first director to depict the infatuation of youngsters in films. In that genre, films from 'Paneer Pushpangal' to 'Thulluvadho Ilamai' that dealt with young infatuation have all been hits. I am sure 'Ilavattam' will also join that list," he said with confidence.
The film is produced by Hari Gopalakrishna and D Bhaskar for Sri Rajarajeswari Combines. 'Ilavattam' is being shot in many places including Tenkasi, Gingee and Chennai. It is set to hit the theatres soon.
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-10.02.2006
