Bollywood film 7 Hours To Go, now playing in UAE cinemas, is an action-thriller that revolves around a small-town cop wrongly framed for murder. Arjun (played by Shiv Pandit) is suspected of killing his fiancée, upon which he kidnaps seven hostages - and threatens to kill one each hour unless the investigating team (led by Sandeepa Dhar) finds the real killer. Pandit, Dhar and writer-director Saurabh Varma tell The National about the dark film and some of the lighter moments on set.
On the characters
Shiv Pandit: "I am used to playing the anti-hero, a role I essayed even in Shaitan. Arjun Ranawat's means of doing his job may not be legitimate, but he justifies his intentions to himself. The character is twisted and extremely calculative.
Sandeepa Dhar: What drew me most to the role of [police officer] Nandini Shukla was that although she knows she is in a male-dominated profession, she does not care. She's a strong, independent and smart woman.
On the inspiration
Saurabh Varma: The idea came to me when I read about a person who took hostages in Mumbai a few years ago due to his financial circumstances. Though the film takes a fictional turn, a lot of incidents and characters are inspired by real life, quirky characters I've come across and newspaper reports. For example, I have a hitman in the film, who struggles to find an auto-rickshaw every time and is also constantly scolded by his mother - inspired by my music director."
Pandit: "Even though I play a cold and calculating cop, I also wanted to bring a certain vulnerability, so that people could relate to the my pain this man is going though. In fact, most true-life accounts I've read about hostage-takers suggest they have a soft side."
On research and development
Pandit: "I read a lot of stories about people who hold others hostage, and what goes on in their minds. In fact I was surprised to discover that usually such people are not aggressive in their approach, at least not towards the innocents whose lives they hold in their hands. This changed the dynamics of the way I approached this character, who has a lot of layers."
Dhar: "I underwent about six months of martial arts training and gymnastics. For me, it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, since I was completely clueless about shooting action films without a stunt double. I got injured, sunburnt and absolutely exhausted - scenes with the male fighters and the number of retakes I had to give made it even more physically taxing. There was a lot of running, hand-to-hand combat and Parkour. For instance, there is a shot of me jumping over a rickshaw, which we spent an entire day on because somehow the timing of the other characters was not coming together, and action directors Javed-Ejaz are perfectionists. We did almost 50 retakes, but it was all worth it in the end.
Pandit: I enjoyed doing the action sequences. They were choreographed by the same team that worked on Shaitan and Baaghi. Almost every day we used to get bruised, but after seeing the final sequence, all the pain turned into joy. Discomfort is temporary, but a film is forever.
On their favourite films
Varma: In the thriller genre, Johnny Gaddar, A Wednesday and Kahaani are my favourite films in Bollywood, while The Inside Man and the Die Hard series are evergreen. Vijay Anand and Sriram Raghavan have also been doing extremely interesting work in Bollywood. And I am a big fan of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and Tony Scott.
Pandit: Se7en, Memories of Murder, Reservoir Dogs and The Departed top my list.
Dhar: I loved Vidya Balan's role in Kahaani. Prisoners and Memento are my favourites outside of Bollywood.
On their future projects
Varma: I intend to make a sci-fi romance thriller next. It's a genre that I think has not been explored properly in Bollywood. Though it sounds complicated, it will a story that will touch everyone, whether they are 6 or 60. It's tentatively called Time Machine.
Dhar: Right after the release of the filme, I will travel to Portugal for my month-long international Broadway musical West Side Story, where I play the lead.
pmunyal@thenational.ae
