When Dimple Hayathi recently went to Italy to shoot for her upcoming film, Khiladi, starring Ravi Teja, she thought she was in for some great time. But much to the unit’s shock, the moment they landed in Italy, the government had announced a second lockdown due to the second wave of Covid-19.
“I thought I could hang out in Milan, but the lockdown was so disappointing,” shares Dimple, adding that all the roads had a deserted look. “Italy is known for it’s tourism and streets buzzing with life, but suddenly all that disappeared. It felt like a depressing place — empty streets everywhere. All that I managed in Italy was to go to the location and return to the hotel. That’s it,” she laments, saying it did not feel like she was shooting in Italy.
The lockdown in Italy had also impacted her plans to shop. “Not a single place was open. The night life too was completely off and we couldn’t go anywhere,” said the actress who could only manage to shop for cosmetics.
Empty streets of MilanAdding to her woes, the actress was shooting in freezing temperatures. “My outfits were not appropriate for the chilly weather, so it was so challenging to enact the scenes. I was literally shivering, and almost lost consciousness,” Dimple recalls, stating that it was very windy too.
“As a child I used to wonder how these actresses dance in such chilly weather, but I have now realised their efforts and what goes into the making. It was very difficult, but I was game for the challenge,” she recalls.
Apparently, there is one drone shot where Dimple and Ravi Teja had to shoot in the middle of the ocean on a yacht. “I have to shoot with a wine glass in my hand, and it was one of the toughest scenes to shoot because of the chilly atmosphere, and that too, in the middle of the ocean, so you can imagine how hard it would be,” she says, nonetheless, describing it as a learning experience.
“I love my job even more after this experience because the entire crew is working with determination during difficult times, and that’s cinema for you — how all creative people collaborate for greater synergies,” shares the actress, adding that director Ramesh Varma is figuring out alternate locations for next schedule of shooting.
