Chennai, Feb 16 (IANS) Actor Nakul, who was last seen in sports drama “Vallinam”, says he flirted with danger when he climbed a tall mobile tower while shooting for his forthcoming Tamil social thriller “Tamiluku En Ondrai Azhuthavum”.
“The mobile tower was about 40 feet tall, but it was on top of a three-storey building, and that makes the total height of about 70 feet. I was never told about this particular scene in the script, but I had to eventually do it on the day of the shoot,” Nakul told IANS.
“Initially, my director said I was required to climb only till a certain point, so I started climbing. I continued climbing until I reached the top of the tower, and then…started acting. The view from there was extremely scary. I could see the whole of Chennai,” he said.
Although Nakul admits the experience was challenging, he pulled it off confidently “for the sake of the shot”.
“Climbing the tower made of iron was extremely painful. My hands couldn’t bear the pain. I was made to wait there for hours because getting down and climbing up again was not possible. This scene required me to work on the antenna. I was familiarising myself with some tools,” he said.
He was neither facilitated by any harness nor the required gear for the climb.
“I was required to wear a t-shirt and shorts along with a pair of slippers. There was no climbing harness. I’ve done so many stunts in my career, but this one was challenging. For about half a day, I stayed on top of the tower,” he added.
Nakul also had to help his cinematographer climb the tower.
Directed by Ramprakash Rayappa, the film’s story revolves around the aftermath of a geomagnetic storm.
It also stars Dinesh, Bindu Madhavi, Aishwarya Dutta, Satish and Urvashi in important roles.
Nakul plays a youngster.
“I play this fun character from Otteri (north Chennai). The image that audiences have about me so far will be broken with this role,” he said.
Calling it an experimental film, Nakul guarantees it is neatly packed with “commercial elements” too to appeal to the masses.
“The concept is quite new for Tamil cinema. But the film has all the elements such as romance, comedy and action to appeal to the commercial audience,” he said, and added that he was excited about working with a “young” and “passionate” team.
“If my director asks me to do sky-diving now, I’d gladly do it. He’s an exceptional director and I enjoyed so much working with this team. I know I had to spend more time on this project, but it was totally worth it,” he said.
“Tamiluku En Ondrai Azhuthavum” is slated to release Friday.