Busted: Shooting another myth down

This weekly column debunks the various myths propagated by Indian cinema—Tamil films in particular
Busted: Shooting another myth down

Myth: Shooting two guns at the same time

Propagated in: Vivegam, Arasangam, and loads of Hollywood films

There are few things better in life for a regional film buff than watching the introduction scene of a mass star. In a local cinema hall. With rabid fans. And so it was for me, watching a 5 am show of Vivegam as Ajith’s silhouette crept across the screen. Thanks to the raucous cries in the theatre, I barely heard anything he was telling a bewildered group of terrorists, but I did see him raise two pistols and start firing them one after another. Soon after, with fans cheering his every frame, the hero goes on to slide across the forest ground and again, fire two pistols at the same time and clean out the base camp. It was then that I made a mental reminder to check if this could be ostensibly done.

Inspector S Sankaranarayanan of T-15 station finds the idea laughable. “I was taught to hold a single pistol in a two-handed grip and then close my left eye, aim and fire. In order to do that accurately, I needed to train my arms to have a firm grip. To be able to shoot well with one hand takes much experience because it’s all about the posture, and often, we keep the free hand behind our back,” he explains.

“Now what if a person held a pistol in each hand and tried to shoot them. He would have to close each eye before taking a shot. We haven’t even talked about the recoil problems. Each shot you take will force you back. I’d say that it’s inefficient and pretty much impossible to fire two guns at the same time, as shown in films.”

There’s a popular line in the film that goes, “Intha ulagame unna edhirthaalum... Never ever give up.” I took this advice quite to heart and reminded myself to never give up spotting and busting Tamil cinema myths.

Related Stories

No stories found.
Cinema Express
www.cinemaexpress.com