Location Diaries: Raveena Ravi—A Rural Adventure

When shooting for Vattara Vazhakku, actor Raveena Ravi had to shoot in rural areas around Madurai. The experience turned out to be a novel one.

"We shot a lot of scenes involving the local village folk. Since it was my first time there, I was surprised to see how well they managed to perform in front of the camera. Apart from a few times, when some of them would look into the camera and talk, or walk off after they spoke their lines, they pulled it off smoothly after we explained to them how it worked. It was a most interesting and a new experience for me," says Raveena.

Playing a girl educating senior citizens, Raveena had several classroom scenes, where she had to write in Tamil on the blackboard. "The paatis from the village were used as actors for the scenes. It was fun interacting with them. But when I turned to the blackboard to write, I needed help from the crew. Because, though I can speak Tamil fluently, I don't know how to write in Tamil. So the unit members would help me write the sentences. Observing this, I heard some of the seniors whispering, 'How is she going to teach us when she doesn't know herself?' recalls Raveena with a laugh. 

The villagers were very welcoming throughout the duration of the shoot. "They were very hospitable. They invited me for meals in their homes. Being a foodie, I enjoyed savouring the local dishes in different homes." She even enjoyed interacting with the local kids and playing games with them. 

But she had some tense moments during the two song shoots. On one occasion, Raveena had to shoot a scene inside a giant well. "I had to climb down the steps along the wall of the well and sit in one of the steps and pretend to teach some kids to swim." But it was a scary experience for several reasons. The steps were wet and slippery. I was constantly tense about falling and injuring myself.  My fear was doubled because I didn't know how to swim. Those were some stressful moments."

On another occasion, Raveena had to climb a giant tree for a shot. "The unit placed a tall ladder against a branch which was really high up. It was scary, but somehow I managed to climb up." But her woes didn't end there. "Next, I had to sit on the branch and pretend to cut another branch with a sickle. As I looked down from that height, I felt really scared. There were no ropes to hold me. Only a bedding had been placed below the tree, for safety. I was so anxious, I don't know how I managed to finish the shot quickly in just one take and climb down safely."

Another time, she had to play Kabaddi for a scene. "The ground consisted of sand mixed with rough coir for the game. So when I fell down once for a shot, my skin got scratched badly in several places. In fact, I still have the marks," she signs off.