Location Diaries: A trip down the memory lane

Express News Service

Shooting for the thriller, Lift, served to take hero Kavin down memory lane. For the young actor, one of the most memorable scenes was when he had to shoot for the promo song of the film.

“It was an important montage song, sung by Sivakarthikeyan anna. I have worked as an assistant director in his upcoming film, Doctor, and over time, I have come to know him well. We approached him for this promo track and were delighted when he agreed. So, we also paid particular attention to how we shot this song,” says Kavin.

Originally, the track was to be shot as a travel song but because of the lockdown, that plan got cancelled. Instead, it was decided to be shot as a flash mob celebration song inside an office, with Kavin and 40 dancers.

The actor apparently spent five days rehearsing the dance moves with choreographer Sathish master. “In the past, I have suffered many leg and shoulder injuries; so, the rehearsals helped me get the steps right and avoid retakes – especially as we had to shoot it all in just one day,” Kavin says.

The shooting of the song apparently was held inside an empty IT office and to the surprise of the cast and crew, there was a sudden power cut. As the generators were not powerful enough to run the AC units, the team of 40 dancers and 20 crew members, suffered in the heat, according to Kavin.

“There was no ventilation either as the windows had been covered to block sunlight. Since we had to maintain continuity, we couldn’t even change our costumes and we had to keep dancing in the sweaty clothes. We shot for almost 24 hours and it all a very uncomfortable experience. However, it will remain a special song for us,” Kavin recalls.

During the break, Kavin spotted the Vijay TV office building nearby, where he had worked for several years. “It brought back a lot of memories with my old colleagues; I invited them to my shoot, but unfortunately, they were all busy that day,” he says.

Kavin also got nostalgic for another reason. “Before entering TV and cinema, I used to work as an emcee for corporate events held at major IT offices on OMR and ECR. I remember feeling proud because though I did not have a college degree, I was working inside these big IT companies. So, when I was inside such an office again, this time as an actor, it was a special experience,” he adds.