RRR star Ram Charan talks about his opening sequence with 10,000 people, says no one was injured in intense action scene

“The highlight was the amount of rehearsals the whole team did for 30 to 40 days prior to filming. We had 5,000 to 10,000 people on a given day to shoot, and none of them were hurt. Not a single scratch. That shows you the kind of intense rehearsals that went into it. Kudos to our stuntmen, our [fight director] Mr. Solomon and the thousands of people,” Ram Charan said.

Charan further added that as unbelievable as it sounds, he never endured a scratch during the shooting, and when he did tear his ligament, it was during a rehearsal, post which he shot the very energetic “Naatu Naatu” song.

“I know it sounds [crazy], but I did not suffer a single scratch during the making of the film. I did tear a ligament during rehearsals, which took me off the shoot for three-and-a-half months. So it was a gruesome three months of recovery, but I’m fine now. Right after I recovered, I shot the Naatu Naatu sequence,” said the actor.

During the course of the conversation, Ram Charan also revealed the bit which he thought was tough for him to shoot. Charan picked the bit when Raju and Bheem go against each other as Bheem comes in to rescue the girl child with a brigade of animals.

Speaking about how it was shot over a period of 65 gruelling nights, the actor told THR, “I personally feel that it was when Raju learned the truth and he fought Bheem (NTR) as archrival. It was when the tigers and animals came out. We shot 65 nights over two seasons, because by the time we started, Covid hit. So after 30 days, we had to pause that episode and somehow maintain ourselves physically. Mr. Rajamouli would call us every week during the pandemic to check if we were the right shape, the right weight and the right physique. So preparing for that episode was the most taxing.”

RRR also featured Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn and Shriya Saran in extended cameos. The film has already won a Golden Globe for its song “Naatu Naatu” and has been nominated for an Oscar in the Original Song category. The dance number has been composed by MM Keeravani, with choreography by Prem Rakshith.