Location Diaries: Adventures in Thailand 

For heroine Vaibhavi, the shoot of her second Kollywood film Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuththu has been an unforgettable experience. The Thailand schedule proved to have in store many delights for this adventurous actor. 

The shoot with Gautham Karthik, Chandrika Ravi and Yaashika was being held in Pattaya. During the breaks, Vaibhavi would wander off alone to try out local street food. She admits to being a foodie who even has a bucket list of dishes. "I eat everything except humans," she says with a laugh. So she was over the moon when she found special dishes made with frogs and a variety of insects, including cockroaches, apart from local prawns. "I grabbed the opportunity of eating all of this, which I had missed out on my earlier trip to Thailand. My only regret is that I couldn’t find alligator and snakes, which I plan to eat next time. I really loved the frogs though." She enjoyed her experience so much, she even shot a video of it and uploaded it on social media. "My friends felt I shouldn’t have put the video on social media. But that’s who I am and I’m not afraid to show it!"

During the shoot, Vaibhavi had to sit on a jet ski behind Gautham Karthik, with a helicam following their movement on open waters. Seeing no barricades in sight, Gautham told her to hold on tight and began speeding up the jet ski. A few minutes into the shot, when  the duo who was totally cut off from the crew, Gautham heard Vaibhavi shrieking behind him. He slowed down instantly thinking something had gone horribly wrong. But to his utter surprise, he found they were shrieks of delight and not pain. " Gautham was quite aghast, but I was enjoying myself thoroughly. I love water sports and the faster he went, the more I cheered. So for the next 20 minutes we had a blast!"

Later, the four actors had to get into a local banana boat. The boat, shaped like a banana, was attached to a speed boat with a rope. The actors had to sit astride it and hang on for dear life, since there was no back support or anything to hold onto except the rope. As the speed boat began gaining speed, many a time, the banana boat would topple during a shot, landing all the actors in the ocean. While anyone else may have been upset, Vaibhavi was thrilled. "Its only in countries like Thailand that you can enjoy clear seawater. The beaches off Mumbai and Chennai are not favourable for swimming because of currents. So every time the banana boat toppled during the shot I was the one cheering the loudest. My dream of indulging in water sports was coming true!"