Tigmanshu Dhulia's shooting in an army base aborted….Permission Denied

Tigmanshu Dhulia's shooting in an army base aborted….Permission Denied
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 09:36 IST
By Subhash K Jha , Santa Banta News Network
/> December 6 when the whole country was on red- alert Tigmanshu Dhulia was supposed to kick-start his film bio –pic on Pan Singh Tomar at an army base in Bengal.

The permission was denied.

Says Tigmanshu, "It is true we had to start a day late because the army-clearance papers were held over. We finally got clearance for Dec 7 and now we're shooting the army portions of Tomar's life in Rourkela at an army base called Bengal Engineers."

No film has ever been shot in this army base. "In fact I went to Saharanpur where I'll shoot at another army base soon. I believe the only prominent actor who shot there was Sunil Dutt for a film called Amrapali many years ago."

Tigmahshu will also shoot in the Chambal Valley in March when his protagonist turns into a dacoit. "The Chambal and banditry are familiar cinematic grounds for me because I assisted Shekhar Kapoor on Bandit Queen. But these army scenes in Rourkela and Sharanpur are gruelling."

In addition Tigmanshu is working with a leading man who insists on utmost authenticity.

Says Tigmanshu, "Irrfan Khan refuses to shoot with a false moustache. So he has grown a real thick moustache for his scenes in the army. Then we move to his sports scenes where he requires a thinner facial growth. Then for his scenes as a villager he'll have to be clean shaven and finally as a dacoit he'll have to have a stubborn stubble all through."

The actor insists on growing all the correct facial hairs for the different phases in the protagonist's life that spans 1950 to 1980.

"A time-taking process. But then this kind of dedication adds to the authenticity by leaps and bounds, " says Tigmanhsu.

Irrfan's Olympian trainer Satypal Singh has also joined the actor in Rourkela. "So while Irrfan performs the arny scenes he's continuing his athletic training, " informs the director.

Under normal circumstances Irrfan dedication would be dead-on. But the sensitive army base restricts and severely controls the shooting's movement and timing.

"We're working against all odds. But I wanted to shoot in all the places where Tomar had been. Otherwise no point in making a bio-pic, " ends Tigmanshu.
Advance Booking Opens For Rajkummar Rao's Much-Awaited Gangster Drama Maalik!

The wait is finally over! Advance booking for the much-anticipated gangster saga Maalik, starring the

Wednesday, July 09, 2025
IMDb Announces Most Popular Indian Movies of 2025 So Far and Most Anticipated Indian Movies: July-December 2025!

IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV

Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Madhur Bhandarkar Begins Shooting 'The Wives': A Bold New Chapter in Women-Centric Social Drama!

Madhur Bhandarkar, a name synonymous with bold and socially relevant cinema, has officially begun

Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Bollywood Shocker: Alia Bhatt Duped by Her Own Personal Assistant!

In a major fraud case that has rocked Bollywood, Alia Bhatt’s former personal assistant, Vedika Prakash

Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Ashi Singh on playing a quiet but strong character in First Copy, streaming on Amazon MX Player!

Amazon’s free streaming service, Amazon MX Player, transports viewers to the gritty lanes of

Wednesday, July 09, 2025