Gulaal – the last shot canned
iView Author:Gajendra S Shrotriya
(Jaipur, India)
EMAIL:gshrotriya[at] yahoo [dot] com
Title: Gulaal – the last shot canned
Today 9th July 2008, place Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) in Jaipur. Since Sunday, I got occupied so much with my work that could not visit the Gulaal sets.

Tuesday evening, I checked with Vasan if the shooting was over for the day. If yes, what would be the location tomorrow? I immediately got the reply that it was already pack up for the day and tomorrow, the last day would be at JKK auditorium.
The day began with incessant drizzling. At around 3 ‘O Clock in the afternoon, I could go to the location. An indoor shot was being filmed on Raja. I could only hear some sounds which helped me understand that Dileep (Raja) was being ragged by his seniors before he is locked in a room.
AK came out, drenched in sweat because it had got very humid. He announced the last shot to be taken on stairs, of the seniors talking, smoking while Dileep shouts from inside the locked doors.
I thought to click the shot while in progress. As the shot started, I clicked and there went the uproar. “ Yeh flash kaun mar raha hai”. Oops, I had forgotten to switch off the flash. I immediately raised my hand and mumbled sorry. Anyways, retake was done and the shot got okayed.
Kshipra, the AD informed AK that sun had come out and Deepak’s shot taken few days back in the overcast conditions could be re-taken. AK immediately asked to send for Deepak Dobriyal. Set up was shifted outside the JKK, on the service lane.
So the supposedly last shot became the penultimate one. The last shot now was- Deepak comes and takes a pan from the panwala (Vasan) and talks to him. It was a close shot from Vasan’s perspective.
The wait began while Rajeev Ravi blocked the shot with Vasan’s help. As he was finished, I requested him for a snap with Arriflex. He very shyly agreed, saying “Man, I get conscious when photographed”. But he looked very cool and in control behind his Arriflex 435. He further said “Take the picture when I am taking the shot”. That was perfectly fine.
Soon, Deepak arrived and changed to his get up right away. AK explained the shot and camera was rolled. AK checked the shot on the digital output and it was okayed. There were claps all around. The team formed a huddle. AK hugged almost every unit member present. I wanted to capture his reaction on how he felt, though I could see the excitement and joy writ all over.
Rest is for everybody to see in the moments captured by me.
I forgot to ask AK about what he thought of Jaipur for hosting the premiere of Gulaal. AK, though it’s very early, please let us have your thoughts on this.
And here’s the video…last shot and more….
22 Responses to “Gulaal – the last shot canned”
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Gajnedra,
Thanks for photos and video.
Good clip. You captured the last shooting of Gulaal and became a witness to see the making of the film.
The Last HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Yippieeeee!!!!!
Gulal coming up…holi hai!!!!!!!!!!
Gajendra,
Great Pics and Clips! Gulal is one of the most exciting names in bollywood I am looking forward to!
Great Clip Gajendra. Thanx.
Thanks RK, Kshitij, Pavan and Jateen. It was an exciting moment.
Pavan, I waited for you at JKK that day, coz Vasan told me u wud be coming. Anyways, lets meet up sometime.
@ KK… Thanx to you buddy. Had u not given me Vasan’s number, all this wud not have been possible.
Hi GSS, glad you made the effort to cover this shoot not once, but twice. Great pics!
Awesome Team Gulal…thanks Gajendra jee….
btw GSS, one of the pic says ” Last shot checked and printed”…and that device that AK holds, what is it? and what do you mean by printed?
wonderful.. good luck to this film.. great news..
gajendra :)
awesome post!!!
@OM…the device is called as Clamshell which operates on miniDV/HDV technology. Its a sony product and kind of handy alternative to video assist or monitor, mainly for action sequences. It records(or prints) the footage’s on a miniDV which can be played on its small screen.
..nice coverage Gajendra..I missed Gulaal!
Gajendra, thanks somuch for that video. Watching it felt absolutely awesome yaar! I hope Gulaal turns out to be a huge hit for AK.
@ AP, OM, Nik, KK… thanks a lot!
@Ashish, OM… thanks for answering OM’s query.
Thanks lurker… To personally witness these moments was equally exciting.
hello @ashish at 12, is Gulaal being shot on HDV.
..no kapil its a 35mm feature…the clamshell attaches to the film camera and operates as monitor. At the same time records the takes being shot.
Thanks Ashish.
Thanks Gajendra for your write up as well as for the video.. and good to c AK smiling afting finishing the shoot!!
We all are waiting for the release of Gulaal. Any idea of any tentative release date announced!!!
@ Ajay Saxena… Yes, AK himself announced the release of Gulaal by this year end, after DevD around Deepawali. See picture of AK’s interview given to a daily in my previous post.
@Gajendra,“ Yeh flash kaun mar raha hai”. something like this has happened with me when i was a new to the medium. t was during an ad film on which i was working as a production executive. deven khote & binod pradhan had screamed exactly like this.