Actor Arunoday Singh, who will be seen in an important role in upcoming Hindi horror-thriller “Pizza”, says he enjoyed terrorising his co-star and the film’s lead actor Akshay Oberoi throughout the shoot.
“It was so much fun shooting for the film. I loved swinging axe at Akshay, terrorising him and loved the way he would react most of the times. I even pulled spooky pranks on several crew members. It may be a horror film but we had so much fun,” Arunoday said
“This was the first time I worked in a 3D film. Even though I play a psychotic character, the shoot was so liberating that I wished I had a lengthier role,” he added.
Arunoday says he didn’t mind playing an extended cameo in the film as he didn’t want to limit himself with certain roles.
“I knew it was a cameo but I didn’t want my ego and greed to restrict me to only bigger or full-length roles. I liked the space I was in the film. Moreover, I’m a big fan of Bejoy Nambiar (producer), so when I got to work with him, I didn’t hesitate,” he said.
Known for his roles in films such as “Yeh Saali Zindagi” and “Jism 2″, Arunoday plays a character with a negative shade in “Pizza” as well.
Did he mind repeating such a character?
“I think this character is both scary and negative. There’s lot more darkness and complexity in my character in ‘Pizza’ vis-a-vis any characters I’ve done before. By playing such roles, I feel I’m doing defining work in terms of growth as an actor,” he added.
Directed by debutant Akshay Akkineni, “Pizza” is the eponymous remake of a Tamil blockbuster. Filmmaker Bejoy Nambiar has jointly produced the film with UTV Spotboy.
Asked about working with first-time director Akkineni, he said: “He knew what he was doing and what he’s supposed to do. I don’t think a newcomer or an experienced director make much of a difference as long as they have a vision and clarity”.
“At times you need submit to the circumstance when you feel you’re in safe hands. I did that with ‘Pizza’ as I felt Akshay was extremely clear about his vision,” he added.
Here are some incidents from the sets of the film that might spook you.
“Actually in one of the scenes, Arunoday had to swirl an axe over Akshay’s head. While the rehearsals went off just fine, during the take he slipped as the floor was too slippery and the axe landed right near Akshay’s ear missing it by a few inches. Both the actors were quite shaken by this episode as was the entire crew. It was only the next day that the shot was attempted again and canned to the cast and crew’s satisfaction,” Arunoday said
Another time.
“One day I had to leave in a hurry post shoot, I thought I would remove my make-up after reaching home. But as I waved at the cabs, they would all slow down and then get so freaked out that they would zip off in a hurry. The other commuters had to ask me to step back and remove my make-up as even they were unable to get the ride home because of me,” he said.
“Pizza”, which is slated to release Friday, also features Parvathy Omanakuttan and Dipannita Sharma in important roles.
First published in IANS
