Vicky Kaushal’s father and action director Sham Kaushal recounted how Shah Rukh Khan calmed him down while filming a challenging scene involving fire for Om Shanti Om.
Veteran action director Sham Kaushal has worked with several big names from the industry in his career spanning decades. While watching action-packed scenes on the screen is a pure adrenaline rush, shooting them isn’t an easy feat and comes with its set of challenges and dangers.
In a recent interaction with Friday Talkies, Sham Kaushal was asked about the most difficult action sequence he has ever shot. In response, he mentioned the fire sequence in Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone starrer Om Shanti Om where King Khan’s character Om loses his life while trying to save Shanti Priya.
The action director confessed that those four-five days of filming that sequence were quite difficult and almost gave him a heart attack. He revealed that since the visual efforts technology was less advanced in those days, he and his team used real fire, with three cameras and 60 members working on the set.
Talking about how they had to be extremely precise with lighting and extinguishing the fire, as even a moment’s delay could prove to be dangerous, Sham said, “These are the moments that kill you and you feel like you’re going to suffer a heart attack. I end up breaking down at times.”
He then went on to narrate how Shah Rukh Khan helped him in calming his nerves, and shared his reaction, “He (SRK) used to say, “Paaji tension na le, main aisa nikal jaunga (Paaji, don’t be tensed. I will come out like this).”
Reflecting on the risk of his profession, Sham said, “Honestly speaking, nothing comes very easy. Everyday I go to the set afraid, hoping that everything goes smoothly.”
Om Shanti Om helmed by Farah Khan, featured Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and Arjun Rampal in leading roles. The reincarnation-themed film was a commercial success at the box office.
