In an exotic world

Gandhinagar Grapevine

The shooting of ‘Mungaru Male 2’ is complete and is slated for release in August. What’s impressive about the movie is the sizzling chemistry between actors Ganesh and newcomer Neha Shetty. Adding to the glamour are the stunning visuals in the backdrop.

The locations have been carefully chosen and director Shashank has waited for the right season to shoot some of the scenes. He is one of those who doesn’t believe in creating a backdrop but shooting in real locations.

He explains, “It wouldn’t wrong to say that the film has been shot in very special locations. The desert scene has been shot in Rajasthan, the scene where we required snow-capped mountains was taken in Slovenia and we waited for the monsoon to
arrive in Sakleshpur to shoot the rain scene there. The film has taken a year to complete.”

The director says working on this film has been a memorable experience. “We went to Slovenia to shoot a song with the snow-capped mountains in the backdrop but when we reached the location, it began to snow. This added to the charm of the song. We weren’t really prepared to shoot in the snowfall but we didn’t want to miss the opportunity, so we all wore at least five layers of clothing and did our work,” he recollects.

He says Ganesh and Neha had a tough time because they had to wear their costumes chosen for the shoot and couldn’t wear anything warm to protect themselves from the extreme cold. “There is a scene where Ganesh has to drive in a convertible. He braved the extreme cold and hats off to him for that,” says Shashank.

 The movie was also shot in a desert in Rajasthan. “We chose to go there in November because this is supposed to be the only time of the year when the heat is bearable. We hired a camel and shot there for 15 days,” he says.

“There was also a scene which had to be shot in a train, so we hired a train with six bogies. We made all efforts to shoot at real locations and not compromise on cinematography. We didn’t want anything to appear artificial, not even the rain scene,” says Shashank.

This is model-turned-actor Neha Shetty’s debut project and she says she couldn’t have asked for a better start. Neha recollects that the only time she felt a bit uneasy was when she fell from the camel while shooting for one of the scenes.

“The scene required Ganesh and me to sit on a camel and I had to mouth my lines. Suddenly, the camel began moving at a fast pace and I was thrown off. We didn’t know how to control the animal. I had a blood clot on my lower back but Ganesh was not hurt,” says Neha.

Neha confesses that it has been a dream to visit some place with snowfall and Slovenia was a dream come true, she says.

“I had to wear a really short skirt and shoot in the snowfall. We were all freezing but we still enjoyed the experience. We have got some brilliant visuals.” She also says that there were heavy rains in Sakleshpur but it perfectly suited the scene.

Acting with Ganesh was a wonderful learning experience says Neha. “This is my first movie and Ganesh was very accommodative. He taught me how to deliver the lines in the right way. I felt at home on the sets,” says Neha.