Locations in Europe: India, Bulgaria, Poland
Storyline
Star(s): Ajay Devgn
Songs/Dance: India, Bulgaria
Indian/ International Crew: Aleaxxander Alexxandrov, Sasho Raychev (Location Managers); Liliana Dancheva, Rumyan Dimitrov (Art Directors); Vessela Banzourkova (Production Manager); Rositsa Litova (2nd Asst. Director); Anna Daverova (Art Dept. Coordinator); Kristian Stoyanov, Ivan Dimitrov (Set Dressers); Borislav Pekin Props (Stand-by); Zornitsa Tsvetanova (Action Vehicles Coordinator); large Bulgarian teams for SFX, stunts, (including camera crew for action sequences), and transportation; Karolina Kosiba (Casting Coordinator); Petkova Gabi Velemira (Bulgarian Costume Supervisor)
Language: Hindi
Line Producer/Executive Producer/Associate Producer: Iliya Sotirov, Lars Lehmann (Line Producers - Bulgaria) Parv Bali, Gaurav Gautam, KS Jairam, Ramji Natarajan, Anil Thakur (Line Producers)
Director/Producer: Ajay Devgn (Director)/ Ajay Devgn, Jayantilal Gada (Producers)
Film Location Analysis
By Kaushik Bhaumik
The film opens on the s Peak in southern Bulgaria. At 9,560 feet, it is the highest peak of Bulgaria’s Pirin mountains. We see a drone shot of bared-bodied Shivaay lying on a snowy ridge, with a hashish chillum in his hand. The song playing to the scene is one that invokes the opium-swigging god Shiva, whose name the hero carries. Shiva is an inhabitant of the snow-clad Mount Kailash in the Himalayas. So, the metaphor works on various levels. That the hero is an epic heroic mountaineer is shown next through a series of spectacular sequences of green screen-assisted free falls down the mountain’s face. At one point, the hero hangs from the roof of an icicle-covered cave mouth in a yogic posture to show off his physical prowess, as well as the connect with the yogic Shiva. The whole sequence emphasises an outsider detached, trained in high altitudes through a single-minded ascetic physical routine, and therefore the best at his job—Shivaay’s yogic focus makes for a good mountaineer. The scene of the free fall is watched with wonder by a few Indian military personnel. Here, Bulgaria stands for India, while the next few sequences are shot in Mussoorie, India. The following sequence of Shivaay taking a trekking team on a hike on high-altitude terrains takes us back to Bulgaria, this time the Bansko slopes, Bansko being a ski resort at the foot of the Pirin mountains, from where Mt. Vihren can be seen. The landslide sequence and the rescue via ropeway across the crevasse that follows is again entirely done through green screen effects. The song ‘Darkhaast’ that follows cuts between Bansko and Mussoorie.
After a certain turn of events, the film is back in Bulgaria, this time Sofia. As Gaura opens a door, we see that she is residing in Sofia’s Hotel Lion. The Bollywood obsession with East European trams continues in sequences after this. The girl is kidnapped by masked men, followed by a 10-minute car chase through the streets of Sofia. At first, Shivaay chases the van carrying the girl on foot, after which he lands on the roof of the van. At this point, we realise the advantages European, especially East European, cities have for shooting car chases in Bollywood films. Not only do makers set the chase up cleanly through fairly empty streets, but they also get sharp turns, bends, and runs through narrow streets and alleys in continuity, which would be difficult to obtain in India. The latter adds to the thrill quotient of such sequences. Shivaay again chases the van on foot, running against the flow of traffic and creating chaos. Finally, he smashes through the windshield of a taxi, and getting in, throws the driver out to commandeer the yellow vehicle. This happens in front of the 1912-built Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky (the one Eisenstein had made a film about). A drone shot from around the cathedral dome catches the chase continuing the streets below. However, it becomes very clear that much of the ‘chase’ has been happening for quite a few minutes in front of the cathedral. Finally, Shivaay leaps on to the van carrying his kidnapped daughter, in front of the iconic National Assembly of Bulgaria building. He leaps out of the car and hangs on to the tail of the van, being dragged along the highway, and running at an elevation at super speed. He gets into the van and almost grabs his daughter when he is shoved out of it. We see him fall across the railing of the highway, down into the lane below. He is arrested by the police.
Next, we see Shivaay escape from a police van on the Krichim Dam on the Vacha river, near Plovdiv. It’s a fairly simple action sequence where the narrow roof of the dam acts as a thrill enhancer, in the sense that it forces the hero to go down the side of the dam to escape the police. This is an easy thing for him, given that he is an ace mountaineer. The van bursts into flames, hitting the side of the dam, and plunges into the river underneath. Shivaay is found hanging on to the bottom of the bridge in a pose he had struck at the cave at the beginning of the film. Muzak Vedic chants begin to compare him to Shiva, creating a strange contrast between the Socialist monumentality of the dam, the Hollywood cinema-inspired action sequence, and pop ‘Vedic’ kitsch.
An action sequence takes place in the Roman amphitheatre in Plovdiv, where Shivaay and an Indian agent who has come to help get surrounded by Bulgarian security forces. The scene is set at dusk, and the ruins of the amphitheatre have an eerie feel to them that dovetails with the masked security forces who suddenly appear out of the shadows to ambush the hero. The hero, however, escapes.
The film culminates in a battle between the hero and the villain, at the locations the film began with—the Vihren Peak and the Bansko slopes.
The other highlight of the Bulgarian locations for the film is the Prohodna Cave located in the Isjar Gorge, in the Lovech province of Bulgaria, near the village of Karlukuvo. The cave is famous for two eye-slit-shaped holes on its wall that let light into the cave. The phenomenon is popularly referred to as God’s Eyes. In the film, the cave is shown in continuum with locations in India and is depicted as a cave to which Shivaay retires to think hard about the dilemmas of life. The cave seems to be glaring out at the world and represents Shivaay’s glaring inner eye. His personality is marked by a perpetual frown and narrowed eyes. However, here a simile is drawn with Shiva, who is famous for angry eyes and a Third Eye on his forehead.
Additional Information & Links
‘Darkhast; song video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMnJp_dSdnw
Tourism
https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/ajay-devgn-to-promote-tourism-in-bulgaria/
