The 2015 Chennai floods formed the backdrop of the recent release, House Owner, directed by Lakshmy Ramakrishnan. Now, the team of Jayam Ravi’s Comali has also shot a sequence that is set during this period, but on a bigger scale.Says the film’s director Pradeep Ranganathan, “We have recreated the flood situation that happened in the Madipakkam area, which was one of the worst affected in the floods. We shot this sequence over three days, with the cast and crew working day and night on all these days. Actors Jayam Ravi, KS Ravikumar and Vinodhini were part of this shoot.”
The team put up the set in AR Rahman’s studio, as it has the biggest space in Chennai. Art director Umesh, who has worked in films like Irumbu Thirai and Trisha Illana Nayanthara, came up with an elaborate set that was as close as possible to an actual main road in Madipakkam. One of the main challenges was to ensure the safety of the cast and crew because they were shooting with electrical equipment in knee-deep water.
“Safety was our priority and we had to ensure that there was no mistake. We planned the whole thing extensively using 3D modelling,” Pradeep reveals. The other challenge was to ensure that the tank where the water was filled up did not burst open due to pressure. “We’d heard of such a thing happening when a few others had shot similar scenes. So, we built the tank, about 150 metres long, two weeks prior to the shoot and strengthened it with pillars before beginning the set work inside it,” he says.
Since they had shot the sequence in summer, given Chennai’s water shortage, Pradeep admits they had difficulty in procuring water. “We brought sea water and treated it to reduce the salinity as standing in salty water for long would lead to issues like itchiness,” he reveals.
Since the scene required continuous downpour as well, the crew also had to recreate rain. “Everyone on set was drenched to the core. It was definitely a difficult scene to shoot, even though it appears in the film only for five minutes,” says Pradeep.
