Randeep Hooda reveals he swam in ‘crocodile-infested waters’ while shooting for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar: ‘Had five divers around me’

“We shot in Kaala Paani, Andaman and there were crocodile-infested waters. I had five divers all around and they were told that I didn’t know how to swim but I was swimming and getting back, swimming and getting back. They said, ‘Hey you can swim, why did you call us?’ I told them, ‘You were here for the crocs, bro’,” Randeep shared.

 

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Swatantrya Veer Savarkar didn’t have a huge budget but that didn’t stop the makers from giving their best. Randeep accepted that they had to adapt and improvise with whatever they had.

The film, a biopic on freedom fighter Damodar Vinayak Savarkar, had a slow start at the box office, with an opening day collection of only Rs 1.05 crore. The film has earned Rs 17.75 crore so far.

Talking about the box office response and the movie being considered by some as an agenda film, Randeep said, “Mr Savarkar went through this all in his life. People were trying to box him and shoot him down but he survived that and so will the film. Though we did not start off well I think it’s reaching people now. The word of mouth is extremely strong for the movie.”

The actor also agreed that releasing the film just before the elections didn’t help either.

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“People look at it from a different points of view, different glasses, very few just look at it as just cinema because it already has the colour of politics on it. The time of release did not help us. I wanted to release it on Independence Day last year, but there were a lot of problems going on between us, the makers and money. But to release it after elections would have been too much. This movie has already been my life for the last 2 years and as an artiste, I need to do more variations of myself than be stuck with one for too long,” he said.

Swatantrya Veer Savarkar also stars Bigg Boss 17 fame Ankita Lokhande in a pivotal role.