Authenticity being the key mantra in films,director Habib Faisal drove his actors,Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra through some gruelling paces for Ishaqzaade. Set in a fictitious Hindi speaking town of Almor,it is high voltage drama all the way with high strung characters who would not bat an eyelid on pulling the trigger. Using guns is like second nature here and both my actors had to look convincing when pulling out a gun,firing and reloading it. While Arjun was not shocked when he pulled the trigger for the first time,Parineeti,who is otherwise very spunky in real life,was startled out of her wits when she took a shot. She did not anticipate the loud noise and smoke when z shot is fired! Parineeti fired at least 200 rounds of bullets while undergoing gun training for a month where she learnt how to hold a gun,fire,and to reload it. In fact she can now differentiate between a revolver,a pistol and a desi katta. The joke now is that she can even participate in shooting competitions, laughed Faisal. Learning how to shoot was only one aspect of the preparations. Arjun had to undergo a complete metamorphosis. He,being a die-hard Mumbaikar,had to work on his character which is that of a small town guy. Then he also learnt how to ride a bike. As he was used to driving four wheelers,Arjun had no experience riding bikes. To top it,he had to ride an old Yezdi in the film. So to make it comfortable for him,he was given lessons on a more contemporary bike and practiced at Mumbai's Yash Raj studios compound before taking to the streets of Lucknow (where the film is shot) on the Yezdi, revealed the director. Parineeti too had to come out of her Punjabi mode after Ladies V/S Ricky Bahl and become this feisty gun-toting Hindi speaking girl. She also had to get behind the wheel of Willys,an American jeep used in the 1940s and is still used in small towns. She knew how to drive a car but this was different and she really had to put her driving skills to test. The film is set in summer and the shooting took place during winter. This was another challenge! I am a Pathan who cannot handle the heat. I write during summer and shoot in winter. But last winter when we were shooting the film it turned out to be very cold. The actors had to shoot in cottons and linen and then came the problem of vapour emanating from their mouths when delivering their dialogues. So somebody came up with the idea of making them drink cold water before speaking. It worked! But I don't envy Arjun and Parineeti having to down glasses of cold water in winter, chuckled the director. l geety.sahgal@expressindia.com
