Chennai: Actor Jayaram, who plays the important character of Alwarkkadiyan Nambi in director Mani Ratnam’s upcoming magnum opus, ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ , recently disclosed a funny incident that happened while he was shooting for the film.
During the audio and trailer launch of the film that was held recently, Jayaram said: “It was the last day of shooting and a significant sequence was to be shot. Thousands of artistes were to participate in the day’s shooting and director Mani Ratnam was busy.
“I was sharing a caravan with actor Prabhu while shooting for the film. At around 4.30 in the morning, I heard a deep-throated voice calling my name. It was actor Prabhu.
“He said: ‘I have two food packets here. One is for me and the other is for you. Let’s eat now as we are unlikely to get food the whole day.’ I replied to Prabhu sir, ‘It is 4.30 in the morning sir. How can we eat at this time?”
“Prabhu sir replied, ‘You will not get time to eat tomorrow.’ I stepped out, took a stroll and came back again and lied to Prabhu sir that I had asked Mani Ratnam about a break for food and that he had assured me that they were going to shoot just one shot and that after the shot, there would be time for a couple of hours when we could have refreshments.
“Prabhu sir got convinced that there would be a break for refreshments, thinking director Mani Ratnam himself had said so.
“Shooting began at six the next morning and went on and on. Hours passed but there was no sign of a break coming. At 10 a.m., I could hear Prabhu sir groaning, ‘I am hungry Mani.’ Yet, there was no break. By the time, it was two in the afternoon, there was no break. I snuggled into a corner, to avoid being seen by Prabhu sir.”
“It was then that I heard him say: ‘Has anybody seen a bald man (Jayaram’s character is bald, except for a small tuft of hair)? If you have, he’ll be carrying a stick in his hand. Get that stick he has in his hand and thrash it on his head.”
