Makers of Veera Dheera Sooran release making video of 15-minute single shot sequence

Chennai, March 31 (IANS) The makers of director S U Arun Kumar’s critically acclaimed action entertainer ‘Veera Dheera Sooran’, featuring Chiyaan Vikram in the lead, on Monday released the making video of a crucial 15-minute single shot sequence in the film that has now come in for much praise from critics.
 

Taking to its X timeline, HR Pictures, the production house that produced the movie, wrote, “Here is the Making of Veera Dheera Sooran’s Single-Shot Sequences! Watch the full Video on Moviebuff Tamil Youtube Channel!”

The single shot sequence, which is almost 15 minutes long, involves a number of important developments including a bomb blast. What makes this single shot sequence special is that nothing of this nature has ever been attempted before in Tamil cinema.

The making video shows all those who worked on the sequence, including actors Vikram, Suraj Venjaramoodu, and director Arun Kumar, explaining about the amount of phenomenal work the team had to put in to get the shot right.

Talking about the sequence, director Arun Kumar disclosed that he was not a fan of making single shot sequences. However, the director disclosed that he chose a single shot sequence in this case as he had to show the suffocation the characters undergo at that point in the story and he couldn't do it in bits and pieces.

Speaking in the video, Vikram said a lot of things would happen in the 15-minute sequence and nothing was made using CG.

G S Balanchander, the film's art director, for his part, said that a sugar factory was spotted after a lot of searching for shooting the 15 minute sequence. Inside the factory, they erected a set as there would be roofs and doors that would collapse in the scene. "There were rehearsals for almost 10 days and for every rehearsal, the door would be broken and tiles from the roof would come crashing down. The walls would vibrate. We would again fix and set it up again for the next take. The same thing would happen again. This single sequence required a lot of effort. "

Vikram and director SU Arun Kumar also showered praises on the gimbal operator Vivek, who had to carry equipment weighing around 20 kgs on his shoulders almost all through the night when shooting was on. What was more, he had to do it continuously for a number of days.

Vikram, explaining the level of effort Gimbal operator Vivek put in to can the shot right, said, “You can’t hold that weight for even a few minutes. Vivek did it through the night till the morning. The sequence has some five segments. Even if one mistake happens in any of the segments, we would have to start from the beginning. Operating the Gimbal was only part of the challenge. Getting the frame right was the bigger challenge and Vivek got it spot on. Hats off to him.”

Actor Suraj Venjarmoodu disclosed that director Arun Kumar at one point, broke down while canning the sequence.

“When I asked him what was wrong, the director, who was a perfectionist, said he was not happy about a couple of things in the shot,” Suraj informed.

“So, the unit decided to take the entire shot one more time. However, to ready the set again for one more take, it would take a minimum of three to four hours. I don’t know how they did it, but the team got the set ready in half an hour and we got it right finally,” Suraj said, adding that when audiences watch the sequence in the film, they would be able to appreciate the director’s brilliance.