Tu Yaa Main director Bejoy Nambiar decodes how he shot eight hours of footage with a real crocodile, including some scenes with the leads. He also revealed how everyone warned him against using a real animal, but he insisted
A still from ‘Tu Yaa Main’
There’s a process Bejoy Nambiar follows. He usually directs only those films that have been written by him. Naturally then, he walked into Tu Yaa Main’s narration prepared to say no. “The script came from Himanshu Sharma, Aanand L Rai [producer], and Abhishek Bandekar [co-writer]. I was immediately hooked,” recalled Nambiar, smiling.
You can’t blame him. It’s not every day that you get a thriller about two content creators — played by Adarsh Gourav and Shanaya Kapoor — battling for survival against a crocodile. “I enjoyed it so much that after the narration, I called my wife and said, ‘If the narration itself was this engaging, my job is to execute it honestly.’ Plus, this was a genre I hadn’t explored before,” said the director, who broke out with the crime drama, Shaitan (2011).
Shanaya Kapoor and Adarsh Gourav in the film. Pics/Instagram, Youtube
Gourav was already cast in Tu Yaa Main when it was being written. Kapoor bagged the part after two rounds of audition. That brought Nambiar to the main player in the creature feature. Against repeated advice, the director insisted on working with a real crocodile for certain portions. “We broke the shoot into three parts — real crocodile, animatronic crocodile, and VFX. Everyone told me not to shoot with a real crocodile. But I felt that even if I got one authentic shot, it would be worth it.”
Bejoy Nambiar
The team eventually chose a crocodile farm in Thailand after scouting locations in Australia and Indonesia. Breaking down the process, he said, “We had four wranglers, a local safety team, and a small crew. We first shot the crocodile alone for half a shift, letting it get used to the environment. Only after that did we bring the actors in. After a point, the crocodile was so used to the wranglers that it almost felt like working with a trained animal. There was never a moment of aggression.”
In total, the team shot nearly seven-eight hours with the reptile. Considering the actors filmed certain sequences with it, preparation was key. “We over-prepped. The entire second half was animated in advance. Every sequence [with the reptile] was broken down shot by shot, so the actors knew exactly what was expected. I’d tell them, ‘Focus only on these specific beats. Don’t think beyond that’.”
Remember that film?
Rakesh Roshan
Crocodiles immediately remind Indian viewers of Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Khoon Bhari Maang’ (right). Bejoy Nambiar sought permission from Roshan to reference the film and use certain shots. “He was so gracious. Later, he texted that he loved the trailer. I even heard from Rekha,” he shared.
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