‘He doesn’t want any nonsense, no interaction.’
‘If anything would go wrong, he would really get pissed.
The blockbuster success has made all the characters of Dhurandhar popular.
Siyahi, who was a loyal member of Rehman Dacait’s gang, may not have lived long enough to be a part of the film’s upcoming sequel, but he made sure he created an impression.
The character was played by Rouhallah Gazi, a Kashmiri model, who is just starting his movie career.
Gazi almost made his debut in Dinesh Vijan’s Raabta, but got replaced by Jim Sarbh. He finally got his break with Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, followed by Dhurandhar.
He shares some interesting anecdotes from Dhurandhar, “Day one, I saw that power in Ranveer Singh’s eyes. Dhurandhar took about 14 months to get made, and that power I saw on Day One stayed right till the end. He maintained that aura throughout.”
‘It took three hours to do the makeup every day’
Sihayi means ink, that’s why I got this look.
Preetisheel Singh made the look with the help of prosthetics.
It took three hours to do the makeup every day. I had to just sit, and close my eyes, for hours.
This acting field is all about patience. The more patient you are, the closer it will get you to where to want to be. It’s not easy, not even for Ranveer Singh. They are all hard working. I’ve seen Ranveer Singh working out, even in between shots.
Even when I worked with Ranbir Kapoor in Brahmastra, he would push me to work out when we were shooting in Bulgaria.
‘It looked like it was boiling, but it wasn’t’
Watch the making of the scene here:
That pressure cooker scene was shot in Thailand.
After the guy was thrown inside the pressure cooker, I banged the lid shut, and then improvised a bit by banging it with my hand.
They had created bubbles and some ripples in the coloured liquid, so it looked like it was boiling, but it wasn’t. The fire effect was created by placing light underneath that pressure cooker.
When people saw this scene, they were like, how ruthless!
‘If anything would go wrong, Ranveer Singh would really get pissed’
It’s rare to see Ranveer Singh off-camera. He disappears. He doesn’t like to be on set. Only when the shot is ready, he is there.
He doesn’t want any nonsense, no interaction.
If anything would go wrong, he would really get pissed. He doesn’t like noise and would tell everyone on the mic to be quiet.
The conditions were crazy then, shooting under the hot sun, in Punjab, Thailand and Mumbai.
Ranveer loves to work, so he would keep telling everyone to be dedicated.
He also did not like last minute changes because he would come prepared for his shot.
But he was really nice with the director (Aditya Dhar), and would ask if he could improvise. The director used to say, please do it. His shots were mostly in one take. He was so sure and crisp about everything.
Day one, I saw that power in his eyes. Dhurandhar took about 14 months to get made, and that power I saw on Day One stayed right till the end. He maintained that aura throughout.
‘The climax was shot six months later, but the choreography was already ready’
When we shot the scene where Rehman Dacait’s son gets poisoned, Ranveer Singh and I shared a moment, pictured above.
We were shooting in Amritsar, in an old haveli that was converted into Rehman Dacoit’s house.
Ranveer had had a baby, and had just returned from his break.
That day, he walked straight up to me, told me that I’m so excited to see you because I just saw the fight choreography of our climax scene in the jungle. The climax was shot six months later, but the choreography was already ready.
He said, I can’t wait to share it with you.
He kept praising me.
I kept looking at him, did not say anything.
‘When I first met Aditya Dhar, he spoke to me in Kashmiri’
When I first met Aditya Dhar, he spoke to me in Kashmiri.
He is a genius.
On the first day of the film, when we all met in his office, he showed us — the boys in Rehman Dacait’s gang — exactly what he wanted. He showed us Lehari, he showed the characters, Rehman Dacait…Everyone was excited.
There were so many ups and downs during the shoot but Aditya Dhar would never get stressed, he would always be calm.
He would talk to me about Kashmir, about my stuff, my life. When it was time for the shot, he would come and talk to you. Then, he would go sit in front of the monitor. It was very easy to follow him.
‘It was a major accident, and everyone came running’
We shot the climax at Aarey Milk Colony (Goregaon, northwest Mumbai).
It was so difficult to run through the jungle in that salwar!
Ranveer got hurt thrice.
Before that chase started, there is a scene where I come on the bike, and see Rehman Dacait hurt in the car. I ask him kisne mara, and he tells me, Hamza ran this way, chodna mat.
There was some water in that scene, and I didn’t realise how much water would be there. I was riding in from a distance, and had to ride very fast.
So when I zoomed closer, I suddenly saw water everywhere, and the bike skid. It was a major accident, and everyone came running. Even Akshaye Khanna sir came out of the car. Aditya Dhar sir came. Everyone on the set came, asking me if I was fine.
Luckily, I fell on the gun that I was carrying, and went sliding on it. So the injury wasn’t that much. My knee got bruised, my elbows got scraped.
Ranveer and I rehearsed that fight choreography a lot, with body doubles. He used to write his choreography on paper. I’ve never seen any actor do that.
Action is a little tricky, it’s all calculated stuff. You can’t miss out. You need to know the beats. Like how actors train in theatre, it’s the same thing with action. Vahan par aap bolte ho, yahaan par aap karte ho.
The action team had come from South Korea, and they were amazing,
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