J. D. Chakravarthy, who played Satya in the movie, said, “Goli Maar Bheje Mein song was shot in 4-5 hours, and that song’s cinematography was done by Mr. Ram Gopal Varma. Our choreographer for the film was Ahmed Khan.But for a change, I was the choreographer for this particular song. Because Shekhar Varma (from production) called me around 10:30-11 o’clock at night and told me that our DOP Gerard Hooper had to go back to the USA because his visa was expiring. He called Ramu, but Ramu didn’t pick up and since Ramu and I would be together most often, he called me.
But unfortunately, Ramu Sir was not with me at that time. So, he asked me to take a call on the shooting. I called Ramu Sir. Obviously, Ramu sir would not take Shekhar’s call because Shekhar would tell production issues. So, I told Ramu Sir what the issue was. He cut the call saying that we will take a call tomorrow morning. I called Shekhar and told him what Ramu Sir told me.”
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He added, “Shekhar said, ‘Chakri Saab shoot cancel kar dete hain’. I told him not to cancel the unit. Ahmed was shooting something in Goa, and the dates were clashing with our shoot. But for Ramu Ji, Ahmed was going to come to Mumbai, choreograph the song and fly back to Goa. Shekhar told Ahmed that the shoot for tomorrow has been canceled. The next day, Ramu Sir called me and asked, ‘Achha bata raat mein bol raha tha.’ He was very fresh. He asked, ‘Kisi artist ka locha hai?’ I told him that our DOP Gerard Hooper has gone back to the USA. Ramu Sir said, ‘Okay. Ussey kya fark padne wala hai? Let’s shoot.’
So, all of us came to the sets. The thing about Ramu Ji was that he never believed in the jargon of cinematography, like the distance between the actor and the camera etc. He would say, ‘Look into the camera, pull the focus, if the actor is visible in the camera, then that’s all.’ So, he said, we have to pay for the shift anyway, so let me be the cameraman and you be the dance master. You compose. I will shoot. If you watch the song now, you can notice me tap Makarand Deshpande and then he says something. Makarand was not able to pick up. So, my cameraman told me that if I will be out of the frame, I can tap. But that was recorded. The camera assistants would tell Ramu how not to light a scen, but he would tell them to shut up and say ‘yahaan light lagao’. Hence, that song became iconic.
