Location Diaries: Villa to Village

Actor Pasupathy's Thandatti was completely shot in a village near Theni.  Spending a month there, he had several memorable experiences, shooting with the locals. The unit stayed at Theni and drove around 20 km each day to reach the location spot which was a small village. "The shoot happened inside a large house there, with around 300 people inside apart from me. The scenes involving the exterior of the house had around 500 people. The crowd consisted of locals and many were people from villages nearby. Keeping track of continuity for such a crowd, was quite a task for the assistant directors. They had to count everyone and ensure nobody had slipped away for personal work. Special accommodations were made to house the large local cast, during the entire duration shoot," says Pasupathy.

He found the experience of shooting with the elderly ladies (a) appathas of the village a unique experience. "They were conscious of the camera at first. So, I would chat with them before the shoot to get them relaxed.  After the first few takes, they got comfortable and would deliver their dialogues easily. They were observant, with a good memory. It was quite a fun experience shooting with all of them." 

But shooting is an equally time-consuming process involving lighting, camera adjustments and so many artists. So the monotonous nature bored them after a while. "But having watched many retakes, they got so familiar with everyone's lines, that they would even deliver my dialogues during take! Then I had to gently explain that the last few lines were to be delivered by me, and not them."

Once he shot with nearly 300 people inside the house, which resulted in a heavy space crunch. "Everyone was carefully allotted a specific place to sit or stand. "But when cameras had to be shifted, the people in that spot were relocated temporarily. This process confused them and it eventually led to arguments. But when we explained that they were moved to shoot a close-up or long shot, they understood immediately. The next time they were asked to move, they enquired the crew about the camera angles!" The locals were very warm that they always offered food to the crew and cast. "Sticking to my diet became quite a task!" laughs Pasupathy. 

Playing a cop, Pasupathy had to be in uniform, but, finding the right shoes for him was quite a task as he had broad toes. "Normally, I avoid wearing closed shoes. But for Thandatti, I initially wore readymade cop shoes the whole day, which was painful and led to swollen feet. I couldn't even show my discomfort in front of the camera during the take!"  In order to find a solution to the problem, special arrangements were made. "They brought a shoemaker from Madurai to take make a shoe matching my specific measurements. It was very helpful and I was free from pain and fully concentrate on my performance."