Raja Shivaji Actor Dissha Pardeshi Recalls 12-Hour Long Underwater Scene: No AI, Body Double Used | EXCL

The

recently released Marathi superhit film, Raja Shivaji, featured many renowned faces. The movie, directed by Riteish Deshmukh, delved into Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s pledge for Swarajya and included the famous Afzal Khan chapter. The antagonist was played by Sanjay Dutt. Dissha Pardeshi, a popular Marathi actress, was cast as one of Afzal Khan’s wives. She had a prominent role in the film that required her to stay underwater for as long as 12 hours. In an exclusive interview with Zoom, Dissha spoke about shooting the key sequence where Afzal kills his begum by strangling her. Then, he throws her into the water where she breathes her last.

Dissha Pardeshi recalls shooting for underwater scene

Talking to Zoom, Dissha recalled shooting for the character’s death scene underwater. When she was called for the role, the actress wasn’t aware that she would be required to pull off an extensive scene several feet below the surface level. The casting director’s first question to her was – Do you know how to swim? Unaware of the scale of the scene, Dissha assured that she would be comfortable underwater. “We can enact a death scene easily, but underwater was something I had never done before, and I was looking forward to doing it. Normally, when a person is drowning, he/she will try to come up to the surface. This time, I had to act as if I were drowning,” she elaborated.

Dissha further shared that before shooting for the death scene, she was trained in performing underwater. “A dedicated team ensured that we could perform underwater without the oxygen mask. We did a 12-hour shift and remained underwater to practice. It was scary because after all, it is water. Unfortunately, it was raining incessantly on the shoot day. During the shoot, I was underwater, and after stepping out, it was raining. It was difficult, but adventurous. I learnt a lot during the sequence,” the actress said.

Dissha Pardeshi lauds Riteish Deshmukh's vision for Raja Shivaji

Praising Riteish for being approachable as a director, Dissha added, “He was extremely humble and gave the right guidance. I was able to perform because of his guidance, direction and vision. Riteish sir made me feel comfortable on set and never asked me to step outside my comfort zone during the underwater shoot.”Dissha recalled, “Just before the cameras rolled, Riteish sir came to me and asked if I could jump into the well from a height of 10 to 12 feet. He said body doubles were ready if I weren’t comfortable. When your director is approachable and helpful, shooting challenging scenes becomes less stressful. His trust gave me confidence. We did not use duplicates, VFX, and AI to create that scene.”Raja Shivaji has released globally in Marathi, Hindi and Telugu on May 1.