High Five

ACP Pradyuman  - Shivaji Satam
1) One of the greatest moments was when we shot for the 111 minute-episode  that entered the Guinness Book of World Records. A single-take shot (there were no retakes), we had rehearsed for six days continuously — actually slogged it out — to get it right. It’s something we Indians should be proud of because in the creative field usually some other country sets records!

2) Another distinctive moment I recall was when Daya played a prank on  April Fools’ Day. It was a morning shoot that day and he gave each one of us khadishakkar (small transparent  sugar cubes) as prasad. All of us dutifully ate it and in the next moment spat it out. It was alum!

3) We shoot a lot on outdoor locations. For me, the most dangerous and adventurous was the one in Manali. We shot in waist-deep snow in a restricted area. Both Indo-Tibetan forces keep a watch on that territory. Since it was on a riverbed covered with snow, people advised us about the places that were deep. Despite that, it wasn’t easy to navigate. At one point I was neck-deep in snow, stuck between two boulders. It was the scariest moment of my life!

4) Another scary shoot happened in Kerala. We were filming a boat chase sequence in the backwaters. There were 20 speed boats and each boat could seat only two people. That was okay, but the scary thing was we had to stand in the speeding boat! I still don’t know how I did that. Daya, Aditya and I were part of the chase, which was thrilling.  

5) The most rewarding moments were when kids from across the country designed and sent greeting cards to me. A girl from Haryana sent me my life story in sketches — one is about my career and another is my personal life — though I wonder where she got all the details from. The best thing is she is now  aspiring to be a CID! 

Abhijeet - Aditya Srivastava
1) I enjoy shooting action sequences, especially outdoors. Sometimes there are blunders too. Once we were shooting in Goa for a special episode. Daya and I were speeding in a motorboat in the deep sea. While taking a sharp turn, the boat capsised. Thankfully, we used life jackets and were saved.

2) Another action scene that I was scared of was shooting the bad guys from a height of 100 ft. We were held by a harness but I have a fear of heights. Initially, when they pulled me up to 20 feet, I was okay, then it went up to 40, 50 and finally 100. But since I was already tied to the harness I had no choice but to do it (laughs).    

3) We usually eat food that is served on the sets for everyone.  Occasionally, when we get homemade food, especially the lassi that Shivaji sir makes, I relish it. Sometime he adds more sugar to it so that we can take a nap of one-hour! Seriously, he makes excellent lassi.

4) Daya is another big cook. Whenever we are in a mood for it we ask Daya to get his special biryani. But the funny thing is whenever we ask how he makes it he never tells us. His one-line answer is aam khane se matlab hai ya guthli ginne se. Now, I seriously doubt whether he cooks it or orders it from somewhere!  

5) One of the greatest moments for me is when we shoot underwater sequences. I enjoy swimming so I am the first to dive into the water and the last to come out!

Daya - Dayanand Shetty
1) Most of you are familiar with the dialogue Daya darwaza tod do, which ACP Pradyuman says. Once I took it literally and broke a door, mistakenly of course! Initally, everybody was stunned but later they started laughing. They had to fit another door.

2) Since we are on the sets most of the time shooting,  we manage our house rations on the set itself. ‘Spot dada ghar ke liye ek kilo aloo order kardena’ is a common refrain!

3) Recently, we had a lot of masti shooting on a mountain for the Rahasya Deep series. There is a sequence where ACP Pradyuman gets a bullet shot and he has to fall while I have to hold him. Shivajisir kept telling me Daya meri kamar ka khayal rakhna agar hath se choot gaya to meri kamar jaroor toot jayegi!

4) One of the entertaining moments on the sets is Freddy’s   pjs (poor jokes). He has this thing about ant-elephant jokes. No matter how many times we’ve heard it, we laugh when he narrates it. 

5) Shivajisir is seniormost amongst us but he is the liveliest. He keeps pulling our legs and passing funny comments. It’s great to hear them from a person who plays such a serious role in the serial.