A look at the action on the sets of Anil Kapoor's '24'

Walking down the corridors of the fourth floor of Hotel Tulip Star is sure to give you the creeps You almost walk on tiptoe for fear of unsettling the dust But walk we do as this is where Anil Kapoor is shooting for his television show 24 thatrsquos all set to air on Colors channel from October 4 The highlyanticipated crimebased thriller that stars Kapoor as AntiTerrorism Unitrsquos chief Jai Singh Rathod is the Indian version of the American series Kapoor incidentally was also part of the American show where he essayed the role of President Omar Hassan and later bought the rights for the Indian adaptation Anil Kapoor who plays Jai Singh Rathod the chief of AntiTerrorism Unit and Mandira Bedi who essays his secondincommand in 24 on the sets at Hotel Tulip Star Juhu Pics Sameer Markande The room at the end of the long corridor has a surveillance unit set up The cast and crew have been shooting since 7 in the morning and when we arrive in the evening we find them deep in discussion about the next scene Therersquos Kapoor of course and Mandira Bedi who plays the role of Nikita Rai his second in command Although Abhinay Deo is the director today itrsquos Renzil DrsquoSilva the writer of the show whorsquos helming the episode ldquoI think Irsquoll be directing around eight episodes or so for the showrdquo he tells us The scene being shot now is that of a surveillance setup where Kapoor and Bedi are monitoring an operation Once the discussions about the scene are over the actors do one rehearsal to make sure theyrsquore on the same page as DrsquoSilva Renzil DrsquoSilva the writer of 24 is helming eight episodes of the show ldquoIs this the intensity yoursquore looking for Renzilrdquo shouts out Kapoor from the room where the actual shoot is taking place while DrsquoSilva looks on from the monitor After getting a thumbsup from him the actors proceed with the shoot which is okayed after a couple of takes Therersquos not much happening on a physical level but a whole lot of drama and intense acting on their part You can see that Bedi and Kapoor share a good working rapport with the latter goodnaturedly making fun of the way Bedi runs as she was required to do for one scene ldquoIt looks like yoursquore joggingrdquo he guffaws and she retorts with ldquoThatrsquos how I runrdquo When they do take a muchneeded vadapav and coffee break at 8 pm Bedi is surprised at the hours gone by ldquoI thought itrsquos still evening Itrsquos all so deceptive in this lightingrdquo she says The actor recalls how she had brought her twoyearold kid to the sets the last Sunday they were shooting Anil Kapoor checks a shot on the monitor ldquoSo there was a baby on my hips while I was wearing a holsterrdquo she laughs Shersquos clearly enjoying her stint recalling how shersquod been thrilled to get a call from Ajinkya Deo the coproducer of the show ldquoI loved Nina Myerrsquos role in the original so I turned up in a vest jeans and boots Imagine then that they wanted to cast me for some other role I was like look at me Arenrsquot I Nina Myersrdquo she laughs Luckily for her she got the role she had in mind for herself ldquoIrsquom doing fiction after so long I think after cricket people just forgot that Irsquom an actor as wellrdquo she says Today shersquos glad she got a chance to shoot at a location other than the usual at Kurla and Filmcity in Goregaon ldquoJust look at this place man itrsquos freakyrdquo she exclaims DrsquoSilva in the meantime has been sharing anecdotes with his assistant directors in between the shoot ldquoDoing this show is as good as writing and directing a movierdquo he says The writer admits that he has retained at least 50 per cent of the original show ldquoBut from episode 12 onwards there are substantial changes and the ending is completely differentrdquo he tells us The writer is full of praise for the cast specially Kapoor who he believes lends the muchneeded intensity to the role Along with actors like Shabana Azmi Anupam Kher Richa Chaddha and Rahul Khanna doing cameos in the show there are rumours of either Kamal Haasan Rishi Kapoor or Naseeruddin Shah too making a guest appearance So whorsquos it going to be ldquoIf we tell you wersquoll have to kill yourdquo is all we get from a laughing DrsquoSilva The day is far from over but another hour soon goes by and itrsquos packup time The humidity is getting to everyone and we join Kapoor in his vanity van If the actor has been shooting for 13 hours straight he shows no signs of it and greets us with a loud lsquohellorsquo as soon as we enter How does he keep his energy levels up we wonder aloud ldquoI think in the 36 years Irsquove been working there has been something or the other that has kept me excited about my work Whether it was films like Woh Saat Din Pukar Viraasat Slumdog Millionaire then doing 24 in America things which Irsquove felt were beyond my reach but I did themrdquo he says The actorrsquos sure the audience must be skeptical of his reasons to do a fiction show on television now ldquoBut itrsquos the excitement of doing something Irsquove never done before Thatrsquos what makes it doubly exciting for merdquo he says And just like any of his other productions the actorrsquos completely involved with it ldquoI wanted to make my job easier because I knew that if I tried to do everything it would fall flat on my face So I got the best in every field Abhinay whorsquos young and understands aesthetics therersquos Renzil a wonderful cast and a channel that is working with us like a team My job became that much easier Varna main mar gaya hota heart attack se I would have died of a heart attackrdquo he laughs And on that humourous note we decide to take leave The actor whorsquos been shooting continuously for the shoot has to report to the sets early in the morning again and we donrsquot want to stall him any longer It looks like even the actorrsquos waiting for us to finish the interview As soon as wersquore done he jumps into his Mercedes and rushes off Guess therersquos no stopping this man whether in films television or lifeu00a0 lsquo24 is a huge leaprsquo 24 takes a gigantic leap from the existing fiction shows on Indian television with a unique realtime narration format providing action thrill suspense drama and the exhilaration of solving complex cases in 24 hours I sincerely believe India has reached a stage where the everdiscerning viewers are willing to accept and adapt to change and newer genres of content just as they have been open to watching newer and different genres in films The success of the show will only encourage other broadcasters and producers to acquire rights to some popular fiction shows Raj Nayak CEO Colors Priyanka Pereira