Explosive visit as Colne gets Bollywood treatment
BOLLYWOOD, in its full technicolour and explosive glory, came to Castle Hedingham on the Colne Valley Railway, as the Essex heritage line became the backdrop for an Indian move blockbuster.
Officials at the line were approached last summer by Flame Visuals– which was in charge of the UK production unit for the action movie Heropanti 2 – with regard to hosting the job for seven days, with filming commencing just weeks later.
A public running day last September was cancelled in order to accommodate the first four-day block of filming. The filmmakers then returned a week later for another three-day session, with some of the filming having to take place with a background of service trains.
“It was a challenge keeping the visitors and crew separate and preventing the public from being able to take pictures,” said CVR Preservation chairman Paul Lemon.
“But the dates were what the Indian filmmakers wanted as it fitted in a post-lockdown window for restrictions being lifted, and they were adamant that these scenes were filmed here in the UK.”
Dramatic explosion
The film, directed by Ahmed Kahn, stars Bollywood actors Tiger Shroff, Abhinay Raj Singh and Tara Sutaria. At one point, Tiger was strapped to the front of the line’s Mk.3 DVT, but in real life stood on a plank of wood mounted to the front of the carriage, for a scene that subsequently sees the station site‘blown up’in the film. In reality, this spectacle was achieved with some clever pyrotechnic planning and post-production editing.
“There was only one actual explosion that took place,” said Paul. “The experts dug a hole between two sleepers that they put a container into, filled with debris and explosives. This was then detonated, with the blast being filmed and copied in the edit, giving the impression of a much more dramatic scene compared to that which actually took place.
“In some scenes, overhead wires were edited in – something we definitely don’t have at Castle Hedingham!”
A scene where Tiger jumps over the station footbridge from the roof of a train is another example of camera trickery, with a crane that lifted him up being cut out. The CVR’s Class 307 and 312 hybrid unit was towed at low speed for the stunt with actors running alongside in slow motion to enable the footage to be sped up later, giving the illusion of a train passing through at high-speed.
Safety conscious
Paul added: “What you don’t see behind all that are the stunt director and myself walking alongside with crashmats in case Tiger (securely strapped on) found himself somehow falling off. We and the production crew took great steps to ensure everyone’s safety, with medics, fire engines and more on site throughout.
“We had some extremely long days, with crews on site from 7am to 11.30pm some days. But the producers were happy and we are very grateful for the hard work put in by our volunteers to make sure everything went smoothly and to keep everyone safe.”
Heropanti 2 is in cinemas now.