The MOUNTAIN Story

Getting permission to shoot in Gulmarg,which is 52 kilometres from Srinagar,is easier than any other place in the world,according to Mehra. “The entire town of Gulmarg and the villages around came to help us when we were shooting. Even the Home Ministry and the Chief Minister were very helpful,” recalled the director.

If anything played spoilsport it was the weather. In the first six days no shooting could take place because of heavy snowfall. “We entered the hotel through the lobby on the first day,but the next day we had to go out through the second floor window as the snow had piled up to that level! The army was called to clear up the snow on the roads so that we could travel to the bungalow where we were shooting. It was just 15 minutes away but we took a while to get there,” said Mehra. He explained that the film which is based in the mountains,is about three brothers who hate each other but are forced to come together because of a clause in their grandfather’s will.

The director also added that without the help of the locals they could not have shot there as the Mumbai crew and actors were not used to sub-zero temperatures. “There were blizzards and things used to just fly off,the cars used to skid and needed snow-chains on the tyres. But what we achieved there in terms of the backdrop and the integration of the indoor with the outdoor,would have been impossible to get anywhere else. By the end of the film the audience will actually be transported into a different world.”

A sucker for locations,Mehra explains how his earlier films Rang De Basanti and Delhi-6 were shot in Punjab and Delhi respectively. “Every actor had been allotted a room to himself but eventually everyone would make one room their meeting-point and gather there in our free time. We also had camp-fires. It was the first time that I visited Kashmir,but it has become my favourite place,” concludes the director.

The film,which has Om Puri,Shreyas Talpade and Deepak Dobriyal as the three brothers,releases April 1.