For 50 days Divyadarshan woke up early in the morning, took a 30-km ride, sat through five hours of make-up and went on a one and a half km hike into the Shantanpara forest.
This was his routine at the sets of Anil Radhakrishnan Menon’s upcoming movie Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi.
“We had to drive for 30 km from the shooting spot to get to a proper hotel. So we got up in the morning and travelled to a private resort within the forest where we did our make-up. For me and a couple of others, the make-up session was grueling.”
“I had to sit for five hours of make-up for the look and people are going to be amazed by it. I even had to shave my head so that the make-up artists would have a blank canvas to create the desired hairstyle. From the resort, we had to walk one and a half km into the forest to reach the shooting location.”
“It was an experience of a life time. All of us were like a family at the sets and I enjoyed the atmosphere so much that I didn’t come home even for a day until the end of the schedule,” says Divyadarshan.
He adds, “But for the shoot, I, being a lazy head, would have never experienced such adventures. One day we were shooting the climax scene at the bottom of a quarry in the rains. Suddenly we noticed everyone rushing to the wide angle camera to get a better look. That’s when we saw a group of wild elephants on top of the quarry. You wouldn’t believe it. The quarry sides were very steep and we thought the elephants being so huge would never find a footing to get down, but they just held on to the grass and slid down the sides! I could never imagine in my wildest dreams that elephants, with their large bodies, could be so flexible. We even had to stop the shoot for a couple of days because of elephants.”
Divyadarshan’s adventures carried on to the Bengaluru sets of his next movie, V.K. Prakash’s On the Rocks, as well. “I play a gay stylist who follows Siddharth Menon’s character and the only way I can describe my look is Kalippu! To tell you the truth, my mother was considering looking for a bride for me when I signed the project. After starting the shoot, I think if I don’t get married before this film releases, I never will thanks to the look!” he says and adds “VKP sir and my mother were batchmates in college, but this is the first time I’m working with him. It’s like working with your college gang. Everyone is cool! Siddharth too has no airs about him despite being a huge sensation. In fact Siddharth, me and Shani Shaki are a trio now!”
A Boban Samuel movie is also in the pipeline for Divyadarshan.
