26/11 attacks: Sidharth Kale takes us behind the scenes of Hotel Mumbai

Hotel Mumbai an AustralianAmerican production helmed by firsttime director Anthony Maras has piqued interest from the word go It centres around the 2611 terrorist attacks in Mumbai a subject that has not been explored in mainstream cinema aside from the French film Taj Mahal 2015 by Nicolas Saada and Ram Gopal Varmas The Attacks of 2611 Maras shot a large chunk of the film in Australia before coming to Mumbai to shoot in and around South Mumbai And that is where Sidharth Kale came into the picture The 38yearold cinematographer was initially roped in for a couple of days but eventually saw it through its Mumbai scheduleSiddharth KaleThe film stars Dev Patel Armie Hammer Jason Isaacs Anupam Kher and Nazanin Boniadi in principal roles The team needed me to man the second unit of production Kale tells us Typically second unit operates as a parallel unit that has its own support team and director Its usually used for stunts and more elaborate coverage of scenes We had to shoot scenes of chaos recreate the panic that unfolded during the attacks While the main unit continued to shoot with the actors we shot with crowds which sometimes ran into a couple of hundreds We also shot the Army movements which played a major role in the operation he addsThe schedule went on for nearly a month where Kale also had to shuttle between the main unit and the second unit Its a challenge to enter a film in the middle You get into a certain camera setup and you must integrate into a system that is already wellgreased What I shot could not look different from what the director had shot One has to keep their ego aside and bring their product as close to the original as possible Kale explainsHe draws an instance If theres an explosion scene going on for example I as a second unit DP director of photography have to catch the vibe instantly Else you miss it because these are elaborate scenes that combine several elements and things are happening so fast One has to man the camera with instinct match the energy around in that little window you haveAlso one has to work with different temperaments and styles But there is no time to get adjusted Kale saysThe film is preparing for a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September We ask Kale about the actors he has worked with Dev Patel being one of them Dev turned out to be much taller than I expected he laughs adding Hes a cool guy very professional and you get no starry vibes from him He has a terrific screen presence though Put him in a room with 50 people and youd still notice him and thats not just because hes famousCloser home Kale has worked on films like Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola and the Ishqiya films His Hollywood repertoire also includes the Leonardo DiCaprio documentary Before The Floods and the Jon Hammstarrer Million Dollar Arm which was partially shot in Mumbai Usually in this field one is seldom star struck But with Leonardo I just couldnt help myself His knowledge and insights about environmental issues is admirable When I first saw Jon Ham on the sets it was like Don Draper was standing in front of me In fact I told him no matter what for me he would remain Don foreverCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates