In troubled waters

Filming for Vijay Antony’s Pichaikkaran 2 turned out to be a life-changing experience for actor Kavya Thapar. Kavya talks about learning a new perspective on acting from the composer-turned-actor Vijay Antony, who will be making his debut as a director with the film. “I learnt how to approach a performance differently. In a scene where I had to break down, I would have normally cried with intensity. But he told me to internalise the pain and be more subtle. I realised how effective this approach is when I saw the result on the monitor.”

The unit travelled to Langkawi for a song shoot and filmed on a yacht. “It was my first visit there but I had no time to explore the beaches.” Shooting in the middle of the ocean had its own challenges. “We chose a calm spot so that the waves would not shake the boat and hamper camera angles. But tourist boats moving past us would rock our yacht. So we would rush to finish a scene before another boat would pass by.”

Kavya also recounts how she had a tough time dancing under the hot sun while also maintaining her balance. However, her love for dancing helped her overcome all the mid-sea woes. “I love dancing so I managed to maintain my balance. However, bending over backwards near the edge of the boat was quite scary.” Eventually, her fears about filming in a tricky spot did come true in a way. The crew encountered a boat accident. Recalling those moments, Kavya says, “Vijay Antony sir and I were both on a jet ski with a drone camera above and another unit on a boat in the front.

It was our last shot for which we just had to drive past the boat. But suddenly a wave struck us, changing our jet ski’s course and in a split second, we collided onto the side of the boat. We both fell into the water. As I swam to reach the surface I noticed Vijay sir sinking deeper underwater and his body was not moving.” From an earlier chat, Kavya knew that unlike her, Vijay Antony did not know swimming. “So I quickly swam towards him and pulled him up to the surface. Those few seconds were most traumatic, as he was unconscious and bleeding.” She then recounts how the crew rushed them both to the hospital, “Seeing Vijay sir in the ICU was very scary for all of us.” 

Thinking back on the incident, she says, “Though my facial injury took away three months of my work, I wear my scars proudly. I have come out of it much stronger.” Speaking about her co-star, she says, “I admire the way Vijay sir has bravely handled all the trauma and the multiple surgeries he underwent. I only feel a deep sense of gratitude to god, for saving our lives that day.”